Ties That Bind
by Shadepyre
Summary: Upon the awakening of Sora's heart, those who were trapped within have been freed. However, it seems that something is amiss...
1. Prologue I - Awakening

Awakening

Twilight Town - Station Plaza

Day 01

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself gazing upward at a star-strewn sky warmed by the soft golden hue of sunset. Strange; he was certain that he had been seated in Yen Sid's chambers only moments before. It was a very uncomfortable sensation, though one with which Roxas not entirely unfamiliar; rather, this was becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence. Having been absorbed by Sora's heart, whether Sora himself had wished it or no, Roxas spent the majority of his waking hours as an ever-present audience to Sora's actions. It was, he had quickly discovered, a very odd feeling to share a body with another consciousness. As days turned into weeks, he had discovered that he could force thoughts and impulses upon Sora, though he had no say in whether Sora acted upon those feelings.

Recently, however, Roxas had begun experiencing lapses in his awareness. It always began as a sensation that he could only liken to drowning in darkness; his vision would begin to grow dim and hazy, all sound would fade, and then he would suddenly find himself in a different place. Sora, as far as Roxas was aware, had never noticed these episodes.

_Though there's a lot that Sora doesn't notice, _he mused, thinking of the shy looks that Kairi often cast in his direction when Sora was otherwise preoccupied.

_Oblivious._

Roxas frowned at the stars hanging overhead; he couldn't have said from where it originated, but he was suddenly beset with the nagging suspicion that he was forgetting something important.

...

_Extremely important._

The vague silhouette of a slender, frail figure cloaked in shadow swam to the forefront of Roxas' thoughts.

_Xi...Xion?_

Roxas felt a jolt somewhere deep within his stomach that wasn't entirely dissimilar to missing a step while walking down the stairs. He was surprised to find that his vision was suddenly becoming blurry; his bewilderment only grew when he felt a single tear winding its way down his cheek.

_Xion? Who… is Xion? Why does that name make me feel so…_

He tried to grasp the image as it floated past in his mind, but it merely twisted into a younger version of Kairi before dissolving completely.

Confused by the unfamiliar sensation, Roxas wiped at his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. When he did so, he realized several things very quickly; first, that he was in Twilight Town. The clock tower where he had spent so many of his sunsets eating sea-salt ice cream with… with…

_Axel. But he's… I saw it through Sora. And then we... we talked one last time before he disappeared. He's gone._

The knowledge was like a dagger in Roxas' heart.

_ Was there… someone else?_

He felt as though there had been one other... someone else with whom he had built a relationship. He found himself wondering idly about the name that had come to him unbidden as he lay in the plaza gathering his thoughts.

_Xion huh?... I wonder if we were friends._

Reluctantly, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind. He couldn't even begin to think of how he would go about verifying such a thing.

Roxas was brushing the fresh fall of tears from his eyes when he realized something of which he already been passively aware: somehow, he had been returned to his original body. A quick inspection confirmed it; the tail of the coat from his time in the Organization was pooled on the ground around his legs and he felt the familiar weight of the hood resting just below his neck. The rip just above the right knee from his brief skirmish with Riku was present as well. Roxas reached up and pulled a handful of stiff blonde hair down in front of his eyes.

_Blonde, not brown. So I'm really…_

No sooner had Roxas reached the conclusion that he was unquestionably back in his own body than he began to worry about Sora. He wasn't sure what this turn of events could mean. Was Sora alright? Had he been injured or even killed, thus freeing Roxas from his heart? And then there were the other presences that had dwelt in Sora's heart; if Roxas had somehow been returned to his physical form, then it stood to reason that the others had been set free as well.

_Ventus… I wonder if he looks as much like me as he claims. And the other. I wonder if I'll know it when I see it, or if it'll know me._

The third presence residing within Sora's heart had been secretive and distant with both Roxas and Ventus; both had tried to engage it in conversation but it had always simply retreated into some deeper recess of Sora's heart. That game had grown old after the first few weeks, so Roxas and Ventus had given it up as nothing more than an interesting anomaly; the presence kept to itself and rarely seemed to try to exert any influence over Sora. Rather, it seemed to be content with spending all of its time absorbed in his memories. Both Roxas and Ventus found that to be vaguely worrying, but the presence seemed to harbor only innocent curiosity so they had left it to its own devices.

Deciding that there was nothing to be done but to find the others, as well as Sora, Roxas pushed himself to his feet and shook out his coat. He briefly considered making his way to his friends' old hangout to see if they were there – he wanted desperately to see the three of them again – but decided against it when he realized that, this being the real Twilight Town, they were unlikely to recognize him. Beset by an odd pang of loneliness and loss, Roxas entered Central Station alone. Having little information and no leads upon which to base his investigations, he was of a mind to speak with the one person who he thought might have some insights regarding what had happened. Truth be told, he had never stood before Yen Sid _in person_, and thus he was unsure that the wizened old sorcerer would recognize him, but...

_I wish Axel was here._

* * *

**AN**: Hi there, and welcome to _Ties that Bind_. This story began roughly a year ago as a middling attempt to bring some closure to Roxas, Xion, Axel, and Ventus. If you're looking for a brief one-shot in which Roxas and Xion do little more than [censored] and [censored], this work might not be for you. Otherwise, feel free to dive in; I'd love to have you along for the ride.

**Revision: 2.1 - (5/9/2016)**


	2. Prologue II - Lingering Pain

Lingering Pain

Mysterious Tower

Day 01

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

The world was warm.

She had forgotten that, or perhaps she had never really known. The cider was hot upon her lips and it warmed her chest as it went down, taking some measure of her worries with it. The whitewashed mug that she cradled with gloves hands radiated a gentle heat that seemed somehow alien and unfamiliar, yet unspeakably comforting. Xion found it difficult to believe that only hours prior she had been a prisoner within the depths of Sora's heart.

_But it still hurts. It still hurts so much…_

That pain had been her constant companion as she had drifted aimlessly within the quiet stillness of Sora's heart. She had shared the accommodations with Roxas, to be sure, yet she had kept his presence at an arm's length; he had no memory of her and talking to him would have been too painful to bear. So she had fled. Whenever Roxas had approached her, Xion had maintained her silence and dove deeper into Sora's heart, far away from light and noise, far away from the one who had once been her best friend. She supposed that, eventually, she would have to confront him. As much as she feared what it would do to her heart to speak to Roxas and not see the warmth of recognition and confidentiality in his eyes, she desperately wanted to reconcile with him. She had so many things to apologize for - so many things that she should have said. She had known at the end, as she had lain dying in his arms, that he had a heart, and that she had broken it.

So when Roxas' memories of their friendship began to fade away like grains of sand slipping through her fingers, Xion had done nothing to stop them.

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the pain had only worsened. It had grown and festered until it became the only thing in her world; it consumed her thoughts, smothering her with guilt and the regret of things undone and words unspoken.

Perhaps that was what had triggered the abrupt expulsion from Sora's heart. Yen Sid certainly seemed to think so, for he had been the first person Xion had sought in her disorientation. At first she had merely told him about her time with the Organization, why she had been created, and, without going into much detail, that she had been spared that fate. However, after hours of carefully-worded questions and strained silences, something had broken, and Xion had found herself confessing everything to Yen Sid: how much Roxas had meant to her and what she had done to him; the pain that had been growing within her; how she suspected that she was responsible for whatever had happened to Sora's heart; how kind Roxas had been; how lonely she was; how much fun she had had with Roxas; how it had completely shattered her heart to see recognition flare in Roxas' eyes just before she died, only to be replaced with horror and shock and panic and pain.

In the silence that followed, Yen Sid had asked her what, above all else, was causing her the most pain. That, he had said, was what needed to be addressed before the matter of Sora's heart could be given further consideration.

So she had told him.

"It's… It's that Roxas- you don't understand," she had tried to explain. "He was my best friend. Axel was my friend too, but Roxas... it was different. There are so many things I want to tell him that I'll never be able to because he won't remember me. He doesn't… those memories are gone forever. And I… I could have stopped it. When we were still trapped within Sora's heart, I saw... I knew what was happening and I knew how to stop it. But I didn't. I let it go because it… it'll be easier on him this way. It'll be easier if he doesn't have the guilt of… of…"

She had trailed off into silence, unable to finish.

After a moment, Yen Sid had responded with a heavy, weary sigh that seemed to speak of more cares and worries than Xion dared to imagine.

"It was no easy thing that you did..." he began solemnly. "Memories are the ties that bind our hearts together, and to have them so suddenly snatched away...

"Yet," he added thoughtfully, "I would not be so quick to say that such things are gone forever. Sora's heart… is unique. It has a remarkable ability to heal and to mend… and to restore. Ties of the heart are not easily severed. If you desire my advice," he added after a brief pause, "then listen well: locate Roxas, for I have no doubt that he was expelled from Sora's heart as well. Together, the two of you should seek out Sora, wherever he may be. This is not an area in which I have particular expertise or experience, but perhaps mere proximity will trigger some reaction. I doubt it will be that simple, but if not, you will at least be that much closer." He shifted uncomfortably upon his throne. "… It would be to your benefit to locate Ventus as well. It is imperative that we know his state of being as well if we are to-"

Yen Sid was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Yen Sid?" called a horribly familiar voice from the other side. "Do you have a moment? It's Roxas. We… have some things to talk about."

Xion whirled toward the door in a panic. She had managed to keep her emotions under control thus far, but this... She wasn't prepared. She wasn't ready. She had known before speaking to Yen Sid that she would inevitably have to confront Roxas, but for it to be this soon...

_No, no, not yet. I'm not ready. I don't know what to say, how to act. How will he react when he sees me? He'll know that I know him, so I can't… but what do I tell him to-_

"Ah, Roxas… yes," rumbled Yen Sid, gazing at Xion impassively. "You were expected. Do come in. There is someone I would like for you to meet."

* * *

**Revision: 2.1 - (5/10/2016)**

**Revision notes/rambling**: Still not entirely happy with this one, but I can always make another pass at it down the road. For now, I've reined in Xion's outburst just a bit (as my original vision of her character was a bit too emotional), as well as her ability to manipulate memories. Originally, I had her directly intervening to erase Roxas' memories once the two of them had been absorbed into Sora's heart; as of this revision, she merely allowed the degradation to happen naturally instead of becoming actively involved in the process. I feel that this is closer to the canon and that it will make certain events later on feel a bit less forced. More to come.


	3. Pleased to Meet You

Pleased to Meet You

Mysterious Tower

Day 01

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

The journey from Twilight Town had been wholly uneventful, a fact for which Roxas was duly grateful. He had taken the opportunity to reflect upon the few things that he knew for a certainty: he had been separated from Sora with little warning, all of his memories from his time within Sora's heart seemed to be intact, and he had regained his old body. He was less sure of the other worries that plagued his thoughts: was Ven safe? Had he been separated from Sora as well? What about the other presence? Having no answers, Roxas had sought out the one person whom he thought might be able to help, barring King Mickey or Sora himself.

So it was that Roxas found himself standing before the moon-and-star door that marked the entrance to Yen Sid's private chambers. Ignoring the faint murmur of conversation drifting through the oak, Roxas grasped the knocker and rapped on the door.

"Yen Sid?" The conversation halted abruptly. "Do you have a moment? It's Roxas. We… have some things to talk about."

Hearing the faint rumble of Yen Sid's voice telling him to enter, Roxas pushed open the door and stepped into the brilliantly-lit chamber, squinting against the sudden harshness of the light. He noticed Yen Sid immediately, looking as gruff and imposing as ever… and then his gaze slid to the side and fixated on what seemed to be a slender figure wearing a black coat identical to his own. She was gazing determinedly at her feet and seemed, to Roxas, to be deliberately avoiding his gaze. Her shock of raven-black hair seemed vaguely familiar, as did the way she held her half-clenched hands stiffly at her sides. Something stirred within Roxas' memories, and all at once it seemed that the silhouette he had recalled shortly after awakening in Twilight Town was superimposed over the girl who stood before him.

Roxas frowned at Yen Sid, who, standing off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back, looked as though he had no intention of interfering. Roxas looked back to the girl, wary. He knew this girl; he was as sure of that as he had ever been of anything. He knew her, and she knew him. Yet he couldn't recall her name. He was unsure of what kind of relationship they had, but from her body language, Roxas got the impression that she currently harbored no desire to see or speak with him. He suspected, however, that he actually knew exactly what her name was, even if he had no memories with which it was connected.

Unable to bear the sight of her obvious discomfort any longer, Roxas steeled himself and took a tentative step forward.

"... Xion?"

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

The silence had dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. Xion was acutely aware of the way her heart was thundering against her ribcage; in the heavy silence that hung over the room, it sounded like nothing so much as gunfire. Her thoughts felt frenetic and scattered. She had an impossibly vast list of things she wanted to say, yet she found herself unable to do anything other than stare dumbly at her feet.

_What do I say? Hello Roxas, my name is Xion. You might not remember, but you killed me a few months ago. Let's be friends._

She squeezed her eyes shut and barely managed to suppress a groan. She hadn't had nearly enough time to think about what to say. She wasn't prepared.

_And Yen Sid knew that! He knew and yet he still told Roxas to come in like nothing was-_

"… Xion?"

Xion's head snapped upward in surprise… and there stood Roxas. The clear blue eyes that she had known so well were narrowed with a mixture of suspicion and concern. She looked away self-consciously.

_He doesn't know me. _She had known that, of course, but the confirmation felt like yet another dagger in her heart. _He doesn't know me, but… he knows my name. He recognizes me. Roxas recognizes me. _She couldn't even begin to imagine how strange of a sensation that must have been. She supposed that it might have been something like seeing someone you recognize in an old photograph, but not being able to name them…

_But this has to be so much worse._

Xion took a deep, steadying breath and managed to call forth something akin to a smile.

"Roxas," she began, "do you… remember anything about me? Anything at all? If not, that's… I understand, but if you can recall anything, no matter how insignificant you might think it is…"

_Please…_

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

When her head snapped upward in surprise, Roxas knew that his intuition had been correct.

_So this is Xion… She looks awful. Miserable._

… _Idiot, because I'm supposed to know her. Of course she would look like that._

Roxas felt indescribable sadness for the girl who stood before him. When her gaze had briefly met his own only to quickly dart away, he knew that she had been looking for some hint of…

_Recognition?_

Roxas supposed that he did recognize her in a sense. Now that he had put the two together, he was absolutely certain that the girl who stood before him was Xion. The name itself still brought with it a swell of emotion that he was unable to explain, but that only served to further cement his conviction that he knew her.

_Xion._

_Xion._

_This is Xion._

His first concern upon coming to the conclusion that they did in fact know each other was that of their relationship. Had they been friends? Rivals? Enemies? Roxas highly doubted that they had been enemies. He supposed that he could simply ask her, but…

He was trying to think of a tactful way to broach the subject when Xion surprised him by asking a question of her own.

"'Roxas… do you… remember… anything about me? Anything at all? If not, that's… I understand, but if you can recall anything, no matter how insignificant you might think it is…'"

Roxas smiled sadly, his heart breaking for her.

"I'm sorry Xion, but… I don't remember anything. I feel…" he felt his face beginning to redden and redirected his gaze to the ceiling. "I feel… emotion when I hear your name. I can't say what kind of emotion it is exactly, but… it's like… a mixture of happiness and contentment followed by unbelievable sadness. I don't know if that's what's left of my memories, but… it feels like we were friends. Best friends."

Xion offered no reply.

Roxas lowered his gaze and found that she was staring at him in silence. Frustrated and faintly embarrassed, Roxas turned away from her, thinking.

_I'm really bad at this._

"... Give me a few minutes," he said wearily. "It's really... this is a lot to take in, you know? I'll be outside, so you two can..." he gestured vaguely, then started walking toward the door. He had only made a few steps' worth of progress when something crashed into his back, nearly knocking him off his feet. He felt arms clamp around his waist. Warm breath tickled the back of his neck.

Startled, he turned his head as best he could and found himself looking down upon a shock of raven-black hair.

"X.. Xion? What are you...?"

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

_Stop it. Don't look at me like that. You never looked at me like that._

Xion wasn't entirely unfamiliar with looks of pity; she had received them often enough from the other members of the organization.

_But not from Roxas. Never from Roxas._

And so it was that Xion's last vestige of hope crumbled beneath that gaze. She didn't need to hear Roxas' answer to her question; she was now certain beyond all doubt that every last memory the two of them had made together had been destroyed. They were, as far as Roxas was concerned, complete strangers.

_And it's my fault. I let this happen._

The specter of guilt that had been coiled about her heart since the day of her death tightened its embrace ever so slightly. For the first time, Xion gave serious thought to escape; as frightened as she had been of having to face Roxas with the knowledge that he would be unlikely to recognize her, a part of her had wanted to see his face again, to hear his voice, and to see with her own eyes that he was alright. So when he had appeared before her unannounced, she had allowed herself to hope. She had allowed herself to hope, despite having overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that when she met those clear blue eyes that she knew so well, she would see the warm glow of recognition and confidentiality that she had grown so accustomed to.

Instead, she had found pity from someone who recognized her only at some fundamental level and felt sorry for her out of courtesy. She wanted nothing more than to retreat into the deepest recesses of Sora's heart: into the crevices that only she knew where his most precious memories dwelt. There, she had had smiles to provide her with warmth and light; laughter had been her ever-present companion. When she had tired of that, she had watched a thousand breathtaking sunsets fade into a star-strewn sky. The joy contained within those memories had made her feel less lonely for a time, yet she had always found her thoughts drifting back to Roxas

_And here he stands. This is going splendidly. Is he going to answer me? He doesn't really need to at this point, but…_

Xion felt a stab of annoyance, though she knew that it was unjustified. Finally, Roxas seemed to find the words he had been searching for and gave her an answer.

"I'm sorry Xion," he began, "but… I don't remember anything. I feel…"

Xion blinked in surprise at the way his face suddenly took on a faint flush. That happened whenever he was debating saying something that he found embarrassing, she knew; it was the first mannerism he had directed at her that was recognizably Roxas. Dreading the rest and being unable to bring herself to risk a smile, Xion kept her face impassive. After a moment's hesitation, Roxas continued.

"I feel… emotion when I hear your name. I can't say what kind of emotion it is exactly, but… it's like… a mixture of happiness and contentment followed by unbelievable sadness. I don't know if that's what's left of my memories, but… it feels like we were friends. Best friends."

Xion blinked in surprise. She was unsure of how to react. She was fairly certain that he was saying such things in an awkward, Roxas-y attempt to make her feel better, but she couldn't bring herself to dismiss the fact that her name contained within it an emotional anchor that Roxas had been able to identify; that part, at least, she believed was sincere. It was, she suspected, indicative of fragments from memories that had been largely erased. They were likely to be more of a hindrance than aid when it came to the possibility of restoring the memories Roxas had lost, but it was, Xion felt, a positive sign. That single detail improved her mood significantly. She was thinking of how best to breach the topic when Roxas muttered something about needing a few minutes to himself and started toward the door.

_What? Why? What are you-_

Something stirred within her heart, and suddenly she was staring into indigo eyes alive with panic. Disoriented, it took a moment for Xion to realize that the hand desperately reaching out into the darkness beyond belonged to Sora. Across from him, Kairi was teetering perilously close to the precipice of an island surrounded by darkness, reaching out with a kind of frantic desperation for Sora's hand. The gulf between them continued to widen as the memory faded and Roxas' retreating back came into focus.

_Wait!_

Then she was running.

Paying little mind to the scowl of disapproval and increasing impatience on Yen Sid's face as she swept past him, Xion slammed into Roxas' back in a half-tackle, half-hug and managed to keep her feet only by throwing her arms around him. Only when he looked over his shoulder in surprise did Xion remember that, to Roxas, she was currently little more than a stranger. She planted her face firmly in the back of his robes to hide her embarrassment.

_Well, this is a good first impression._

"… Roxas," she said after a moment, "I know that you don't remember me. I know that. But… I remember you. You were… you are my absolute best friend. I want to be with you again, even if… even if we have to start from scratch. If that's the case, then that's what we'll do. You are far… far too important to me for me to just give up and let you walk away because I don't like the situation. We'll find some way to restore your memories. I don't know how, but… we'll find a way. So just… until then…"

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

"Until then," Roxas suggested, "if you could not squeeze me so tight, that'd be a good start. I can't breathe." He tried unsuccessfully to prise open her arms and had to settle for twisting his body into a more comfortable position, though the improvement was negligible.

_Merlin she's strong._

"Xion…" he began, "If you completely understand that I don't remember you, and that you can't expect me to suddenly remember all of the time we spent together, then I'm fine with us being friends. I would like to be your friend, actually. You seem like a good person. Just… you seem like you've hurt over this… a lot. I don't know what I said or did that our friendship meant so much to you but… ha, this is a lot of pressure you know?"

Roxas grinned and patted one of the arms clamped around his waist.

"But… I think I understand. If I do or say anything insensitive, just hit me. I learn best that way. So... I guess that just leaves introductions, huh? For one of us, anyway." He made another attempt at prising apart her arms, failed, and settled for patting one of her hands in a mock handshake.

"My name's Roxas, though I get the vague impression that you already knew that. Pleased to meet you. _Now can you please let go?" _he added in a whisper._ "I appreciate this situation for what it is, but I think my ribs are about to break."_

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**

**An: **Condensed all of the Pleased to Meet you chapters into one and cleaned them up a bit. Sorry if you saw this upload and thought it was a full update!


	4. From Where We Left Off

From Where We Left Off

Mysterious Tower

Day 01

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

_I've missed you so much._

Giggling at his distress, Xion released Roxas and took a step back. When she realized that she was giggling – honestly, sincerely giggling for the first time since her expulsion from Sora's heart, it resolved into laughter.

_He has to think I'm crazy._

"I'm s-… sorry Roxas," she managed between fits, "but it's just… that reaction. I know you don't remember, but I used to surprise you like that sometimes when you got off work. The first time I did it, your reaction was exactly the same."

_Come to think of it, we were kind of touchy-feely weren't we? Roxas never seemed to think anything of it, but those looks we would get from Axel sometimes… I wondered. _

Roxas, having finally recovered enough to speak, straightened and replied with a warm smile.

"Well, I bet that helps your feelings then. Were you expecting me to be grossed out or something?"

Behind them, someone cleared their throat impatiently.

"Well… no," replied Xion, "but we're not friends right now, so I thought it might be kind of… I didn't really think before doing it, and after I grabbed you I realized…"

"Hold on, what do you mean we're not friends right now?" interjected Roxas. "I thought we just agreed that-"

"**Are you two quite finished yammering at each other?"** boomed a thunderous voice from the far side of the room, making both of them jump. They turned as one to find Yen Sid glowering at the scene with obvious distaste.

"Youth..." he continued with disdain. "I thought the two of you came here to seek my guidance regarding a very, very important matter that was of grave consequence to you both. If you wish to slowly but surely fall in love with each other, you are certainly free to do so... but at least have the courtesy to tend to such things elsewhere. Otherwise, I would like to begin our discussion about this sudden upheaval that occurred within Sora's heart some twelve hours ago… if you believe that you can disentangle yourselves from each other long enough to give the matter serious thought."

Roxas and Xion looked at each other in surprise.

"_Hey, Xion…" _whispered Roxas loudly enough for Yen Sid to hear, _"I think Yen Sid is jealous. I'm sure he gets lonely up here so I can't really blame him, but... what do you think?"_

"_I think something is wrong with your sense of self-preservation," _replied Xion. _"Even so, we really do need to figure this out. Don't offend him any more than you have to."_

Yen Sid glared at the two of them for a moment before launching into his reasoning as though there had been no interruption.

"First… we must consider what we do know about the current… predicament. The two of you, and presumably Ventus as well, have once again become separate entities from Sora. Ventus can be thought of as an outlying factor for our purposes. The damaged remnants of his heart were absorbed by Sora when he was very young; however, while I have no doubt that his heart played a large part in shaping Sora's character, the two can safely be considered wholly independent of each other. Sora is whole without Ventus' presence, so the possibility that we might have to seek a way to return him to Sora's heart is not one that we need concern ourselves with.

"… which brings us to the two of you. Roxas, you are Sora's Nobody; you were born into this world when Sora turned the keyblade on himself to release his friend's heart. However, you are unique among Nobodies in that you seem to have a heart of your own. While I cannot be completely certain, I feel that there is no immediate need for you to return to Sora. We will simply have to monitor the situation until we're sure of what, if any, action needs to be taken."

Yen Sid shifted his gaze to Xion.

"And so, we come… to the puppet. A husk created by husks in order to…" Yen Sid glanced to Roxas for the briefest of moments before returning his gaze to Xion. "… well… it is not for me to disclose. Suffice to say that both the method of your creation and the means for which you were created are at odds with your nature; moreover, while your abilities are, unless I am gravely mistaken, derived from Sora himself, you possess still others that were not intended… and thus we find ourselves in our present situation. For your sake, I will not put my deduction into words, but you know precisely of what I speak."

Xion gazed at Yen Sid warily; his meaning was not lost upon her. She managed a weak nod while Roxas, utterly lost, frowned at her with concern.

"And so," concluded Yen Sid, "I stand by what I said previously; the two of you should seek Sora out, wherever he may be, and we shall see what happens. If you should happen to meet Ventus along the way, that is all to the better. I shall contact the king in the meantime; he is surprisingly knowledgeable about matters of the heart. … Though, now that I think on it," he added enigmatically, "I suppose that he would be."

He scowled at Roxas and Xion, irritated by way they had furtively shuffled closer together during his monologue. "As I said… elsewhere. Away with you. You might begin your search on the Destiny Islands; that is the place, I believe, that Sora feels the most comfortable, and so that will likely be the first place he seeks in his disorientation. I will let you know if I discover something in the meantime."

With that, Yen Sid turned away toward the window, dismissing them.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	5. Hearts Aflame - I

Hearts Aflame – I

Twilight Town

Day 02

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

Xion was unable to recall ever having watched a sunset that had seemed so beautiful. They had returned to Twilight Town upon leaving Yen Sid's tower at Xion's suggestion; she had wanted to watch at least one sunset with Roxas from their old spot before their journey took them elsewhere. It was a desire driven by nostalgia, yet Roxas' surprise when Xion had purchased two bars of sea-salt ice cream and held one out in supplication had quickly melted away when he realized the implications of that gesture; though he might have no recollection, Xion had been someone in whom Roxas had expressed a profound, genuine interest that exceeded the boundaries of a mere acquaintance. She had been indescribably grateful to witness that moment of realization; she had presented Roxas with evidence – solid, irrefutable evidence other than her words and his intuition – that the two of them had once been the closest of friends.

So it was that sunset found them seated upon the precipice of the clock tower that presided over Twilight Town's station plaza, sea-salt ice cream in hand, each silently enjoying the other's company. All things considered, Xion found it remarkable that Roxas had seemingly been able to warm up to her so quickly. She suspected that he was putting forth so much effort in an attempt to make her feel that their relationship was the same as it had been previously. It wasn't, as they were both aware, but she appreciated the gesture all the same. It was exactly the kind of thing she had suspected he might do, and she loved him for it.

_If you only knew how many times I dreamed of this, how desperately I wanted it. _

For Xion had often dreamt of happier days as her soul slumbered within Sora's heart; when awake, she would wrap herself in his memories to keep the loneliness at bay, but whenever the time came to loosen her grip on awareness and drift into the numb stillness that passed for sleep… then, and only then, did she ever feel some measure of contentment. However, nightmares had sometimes found her in that place, and Xion would find herself gazing up into Roxas' bloody, beaten, tear-streaked face as she lay dying in his arms. It was after waking from these memories that Xion would feel the guilt and regret of her actions the most keenly. More than once she had screamed into the darkness, begging to see Roxas again, pleading with every fiber of her being, but if something in that endless void had heard her plea, it had not answered.

Afterward, Xion would find herself wishing just the opposite: that Roxas would not remember her, would have no desire to remember her, and that he would be able to exist in peace without having to bear the misappropriated guilt of killing her. It was a convoluted maelstrom of emotion that had threatened to overwhelm her, choking her with pain, until-

"Xion?"

Xion flinched and looked over at Roxas in surprise, then jumped again and drew back in surprise when she saw how close his face was to her own.

"Are you alright?" he asked innocently. "You've been kind of spaced out for a while. Does your ice cream taste weird or something?" He frowned at it in suspicion. "We can swap if you'd like. I wouldn't mind."

"No… no, the ice cream tastes alright," replied Xion, "so you can have the rest if you want it. I was just… thinking about things. I know that I've already asked you this, but are you sure you're okay with us just suddenly being so… familiar with each other like this? You've said that you don't remember me and I believe you, so for you to suddenly have to act like-"

"Xion," said Roxas, gently interrupting her, "it's fine. You're overthinking this. The fact that we're sitting here like this, in this place, eating ice cream together and talking to each other about something this personal… why would be doing any of that if we weren't friends? Your problem…" he added, pointing his ice cream at her in admonition, "is that you're stuck on this idea that we're suddenly no longer friends just because I don't remember everything we did together. That's silly."

Smiling, he returned his gaze to the sunset and put his free arm around Xion's shoulders, pulling until the side of her head was pressed against his own.

"I like you, Xion, and that's all that matters. Stop worrying about it."

Xion blinked in surprise at the warmth in Roxas' words, as well as the warmth of his body suddenly pressed against her own.

_This person._

It made her feel slightly ashamed to have her deepest fears so effortlessly trivialized and dismissed. It also made her feel indescribably grateful. She was about to say as much when she heard quiet footsteps approaching from behind. Roxas, oblivious, had started to make another inquiry about her ice cream when a tall, slender figure cloaked in the black robes of the Organization rounded the corner of the clock tower and halted, gazing down at them from within the folds of its voluminous hood. After a moment, it reached up and lowered the hood, shaking out a mane of impossibly red hair that seemed to blaze with a sudden fire in the glow of the evening sun.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	6. Hearts Aflame - II

Hearts Aflame – II

Twilight Town

Day 02

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Roxas' head snapped toward the newcomer in surprise, and then several things happened in very quick succession. Xion was shouting something in his ear, but Roxas ignored her and scrambled to his feet, flinging his arm out to the side to summon his Keyblade. With a wordless cry of panic, Xion jumped to her feet as well and grabbed a fistful of his robes; one almighty yank later, the two of them lay in a tangled heap while the cloaked figure looked on in bewilderment.

"Roxas, wait!" shouted Xion once again, "I know what you're thinking, but something's not-"

"Who are you?!" demanded Roxas, talking over her. "Why do you look so much like Axel? What is this?"

The figure frowned in mock disappointment. "Who am I?" it asked. "Come on Roxas, you know better than that. How can you- oh it's the eyes isn't it? Yeah, seems those marks were exclusive to my Nobody. It's kind of a shame, you know? I liked them. They added character."

"Your… nobody?" replied Roxas. "So that means… but you should be a heartless. How do I know you're not? And if that's the case, why do you remember me? How do I know this isn't some… some cruel trick or-"

The figure sighed in exasperation and started rummaging through its robes. "I figured this might happen," it explained, "so I brought… one sec, let me… here we go." It produced a short, thin stick that had previously held a bar of sea-salt ice cream. Though somewhat faded by time, the phrase 'Winner!' was clearly visible along the length of the wood. The figure grinned and tossed the stick to Roxas, who caught it.

Silence settled over the clock tower.

Roxas was dimly aware of a burning sensation beneath his eyes. That was all the warning he received before the word 'Winner!' became a watery blur. He rubbed at his eyes in embarrassment and then looked up at his friend in disbelief, unable to think of which question to ask first. Seeming to be greatly amused by his distress, Lea laughed aloud and said, "Well, it looks like that did the trick. Sorry for making you cry in front of your, ah... well, now what should we call you, exactly?" His gaze shifted to Xion, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Ah well, we can worry about that later. Now are you gonna untangle yourselves and scoot over or are you gonna make me stand while I eat my ice cream?"

A few minutes later, Roxas, Xion, and Lea were seated upon the precipice of the clock tower as in days long past. The situation felt incredibly surreal. As they watched the sun slowly sink behind the horizon, however, Roxas felt utterly at peace; he knew at last that Xion had formed an irreplaceable part of their trio, and Axel...

_Axel is back._

The thought filled him with a heady sense of relief that he was unable to put into words. As long as Axel was with them, everything would work out, somehow. As for Xion...

_What kind of relationship did we have __before I lost my memories?_

It was an odd thought. Had they been close? Axel appeared to have recognized her, so maybe he would know.

"Say, Axel…" Roxas began, but Lea cut him off with an exasperated sigh.

"It's Lea now. Axel is gone, remember? Lea. L – E – A. Got it memorized?"

"I liked Axel better," muttered Roxas sourly, causing Lea to frown at him with the expression of someone whose pride had been deeply wounded. "Anyway, I was wondering… when you said that you weren't sure what to call Xion, did you mean that we were, well..." He felt his cheeks beginning to redden. "What kind of... relationship did we have?"

Behind him, Xion choked on her ice cream and launched into a particularly violent coughing fit.

Lea blinked in surprise. "Xion? Ah, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm kind of jealous that she found ya before I did, but…" he frowned. "Actually why are you asking me something like this? You're in a much better position to know that kind of thing than I am, partner. It's like you..." He glanced past Roxas to Xion, a frown of suspicion wrinkling his brow. "... Ah," he said after a moment. "So that's how it is. I thought that something was off, but..." He scratched at his scalp. "Well, that's a tough situation, no doubt about it, but I think you'll be alright." He flashed Xion a very clear 'We-need-to-talk-in-private-later' look before returning his gaze to the sunset. "So where are you two headed? And do you have room for one more?" He stretched languidly. "I don't each much, I'm house-broken, and I'll even fetch your newspaper. Might even whip up some grub every now and then if the mood strikes me. I'm a _fantastic_ cook, or so I've heard it told." He grinned slyly. "Deal?"

* * *

**Rvs: 2.1 (12/1/2016)**


	7. Hearts Aflame - III

Hearts Aflame - III

Twilight Town

Day 02

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

Xion and Lea watched each other warily. Roxas, having exhibited an uncharacteristic ability to read the mood, had descended the clock tower to purchase more ice cream, leaving the two of them alone. The door that opened into the stairwell had scarcely swung closed when Lea turned his gaze onto Xion, unsmiling, and received an impassive stare in return.

"You know…" he offered after the heavy silence had dragged on for some time, "I _am_ glad to see you, whatever the circumstances."

"Likewise," replied Xion with the ghost of a smile. "But… let's get this over with. I owe you an explanation, and Roxas as well… Roxas especially. But he'll have to wait. Now isn't the time."

Lea stared incredulously. "Now isn't….. man oh man…" He pinched his temples in irritation. "Xion, what you're doing is wrong. You know it, I know it, and Roxas would tell you the same thing if he knew. You're being tremendously unfair, don't you think? You're using him."

"Use- I'm not using him!" protested Xion hotly. "I'm just…"

"Just what? Waiting? What d'you think will happen when his memories return? Or do you have some grand scheme to stop that from happening?"

Xion felt her face reddening. "That's not it all, Axel! Do you think… Do you think I enjoy knowing that all of the time the three of us spent together is _gone? _Do you have any idea how much that hurts? Of course I want Roxas to regain his memories!"

"So you say," replied Axel, "but I'll ask you again: what do you think will happen when Roxas regains his memories? What do you think he'll feel when he realizes everything you've been keeping from him? Do you think he'll thank you? I don't. I think he'll feel betrayed and used. I would. While you're thinking on that, let me ask you another question. Do you understand why my memories related to you are intact? They returned when my Nobody was destroyed and my heart merged with my original body. Think about that for a moment. I don't claim to know exactly how this current situation came to be, but it's a very real possibility that Roxas will have to return to Sora to-"

"No."

Lea faltered and fell silent in response to the way Xion rose to her feet before him, head bowed. She was trembling slightly, he saw.

_Don't you... don't you dare say..._

"… Look, Xion," he began, but she raised a hand, forestalling him.

"No," she repeated in an icy voice. "If that's what has to happen, then Roxas will continue without his memories. You have no… _no _idea how much pain I've suffered knowing that he… that we…"

She felt tears beginning to pool beneath her eyes and rubbed at them angrily.

"It was lonely in the darkness, Axel… so, so lonely… I thought I would suffocate from the… the… and I… Roxas…" She took a calming breath. "When we met after we were released from Sora's heart, I was terrified. _Terrified. _I was meeting the person who had been my very, very best friend, yet he didn't remember me. He… not a single thing. I knew that that was going to… to be the case before he ever walked through that door, but it still hurt more than you can possibly imagine. But do you… do you know what happened, Axel? That person… Roxas told me that it didn't m-matter if he couldn't r-rem-member anything about me because we were- were still… f-… f-…"

Xion stopped speaking in one last valiant attempt to bring her emotions under control, but Lea kicked that effort to splinters when he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a protective hug as he had so many times before. Then the last of her restraint crumbled away and she found herself sobbing into Lea's robes as he rubbed her back in sympathy.

"Not easy, having friends," he said.

"Not… not easy," she agreed. "Axel I'm… I'm so… so sorry. You're right, what I'm doing isn't… right. It isn't fair to Roxas. I should tell him, but… but..."

"But it hurts," finished Lea. "You're frightened that he'll feel betrayed, that he won't trust you anymore, that he'll hate you, that you lose him again… that kind of thing, yeah?" Xion nodded into his robes. "Well…" he continued, "he might not understand everything at first, and he might not appreciate you having kept something like this from him, but… I really don't think Roxas is the kind of person who would abandon someone, especially someone he considers to be a friend, because of something like a miscommunication."

"A miscommunication," said Xion flatly, her voice muffled. "Axel, I made… I made Roxas kill me. I attacked him, not with killing intent, but I acted the part well enough that he felt that his life was in danger, so he killed me. When I'm… When someone defeats me in battle, their memory of me starts to decay. You know that from firsthand experience. I don't entirely understand why, but… it was just a passive ability that was instilled within me when I was created. But… something went wrong and Roxas recognized me after he… while I was… just before I died, he held me, and I saw recognition ignite in his eyes moments before I… You can't imagine the pain I saw there. It broke my heart, and it… I know it broke his as well.

"Later, when we had been reabsorbed into Sora's heart, I was a separate entity from Roxas. I thought that was strange considering my… what I am, but I found that I was able to… to manipulate memories… and not just Sora's," she added guiltily. "So… I saw to it that Roxas' memories of me were completely and utterly destroyed." She felt Lea's arms release her, then return a moment later. A hand continued tracing slow circles between her shoulder blades. "That was… that was hard, but at the time I felt that it was the best way to shield him from the pain of loss and the knowledge that he was partially responsible for my death. After that, though… Like I said, the darkness is a lonely place. It's cold, vast, empty… It didn't take long for me to realize how badly I missed…. And that pain only grew. It grew and festered until it became the only thing I knew.

"I think that was when we were expelled from Sora's heart. I don't know if it was some subconscious reaction to carrying around that much pain, or… but that's the conclusion I've come to.

"So," she finished, "there you have it. I'm the one responsible for all of this. I tricked Roxas into killing me. I erased his memory of our time together, of our friendship. I hurt Sora's heart in such a way that he could no longer bear our presence. Gods alone know what effect that's had on Sora. I've hurt… I've hurt so many people. I've withheld all of this from Roxas because I don't want him to hate me. I just want… I want things to be the way they were. I want the three of us to be friends and… and to eat i- ice cream together and… so please," she pleaded, pulling away enough to raise her head, "don't tell Roxas what I've-"

She found herself gazing into clear blue eyes not a foot away.

Her eyes widened in shock and fear. She tried to break free but Roxas only tightened his grip, smiling enigmatically. She saw Lea hovering in the background working on a bar of ice cream. When he noticed her gaze, he grinned apologetically and gave her a mock salute with his ice cream.

_No… no, no, no, please no, this isn't what I wanted. This isn't how I wanted you to find out. I don't want this, please… I'm sorry, don't…_

Terrified, she returned her gaze to Roxas' eyes and there found the very last thing she had expected: amusement.

"Wh… Rox…" was all she was able to manage.

Roxas made a show of sighing in exasperation. "Would you mind not looking looking at me like that? It makes me feel unbelievably guilty."

"Everything makes you feel guilty," intoned Lea. "You have a woman's heart." He threw up his hands in mock surrender when Roxas flashed him a glare over his shoulder. "What?" he added. "I could always just return to calling you a zombie if you feel that's less offensive."

Roxas made a noncommittal noise in his throat as though to say he would think on it and returned his gaze to Xion.

"Xion…" he began, "I don't know the circumstances, and I hope you'll explain them to me some day, but did I… did I really kill you?" She nodded tremulously. "Were we enemies?" She shook her head. "Was I really, really mad at you about something?" She scowled, visibly upset that he wasn't treating the matter more seriously. "I'm joking. Well, it sounds like a complicated situation then. Let me rephrase the question. When I, uh… when I killed you, did I hate you? Did I want our friendship to end?"

"N-no…" she replied.

"Well then, did you want our friendship to end? Did you hate me?"

"No!" she replied emphatically. "I didn't… I could never…"

"I'm standing right here Xion, you don't have to shout," said Roxas in a deadpan tone that earned him another scowl. "But, well… if all of that's true, why were you so afraid of just telling me and explaining everything like you just did?"

Xion stared blankly. "Why would I… do you ever think about how other people feel?" Lea snorted in the background. "Of course I would be scared. In fact, I just told you exactly why I didn't want to bring it up. Well… I mean, I guess I thought I was telling Axel, but you know what I mean." Her face reddened.

"Hah, see? I'm more trustworthy than you," jabbed Lea. "Probably because I don't mope around like a zombie. You need to work on that if you want a girl to-"

"I'm not paying for your ice cream next time," said Roxas without looking away from Xion. "And if you keep it up, you'll pay for Xion's and my own as well."

Xion looked up, confused. "Next time?" she asked. "What do you mean, next time? After all I've-"

Roxas tilted his head to the side slightly. "Huh? Yeah, next time. Xion, if you're worried that I'm going to abandon you… that's not going to happen. We're friends. I'm not saying that I appreciate having my memories taken from me without my knowledge; I don't, and though I sort of understand why you did it, it still seems kind of selfish."

Xion lowered her gaze in shame.

"But…" Roxas continued, "our first priority right now should be to find Sora and see if he's alright. I don't… Xion, look at me," he said gently. When she did, he smiled and said, "I have no desire to return to Sora's heart, and I don't want you to have to either. I'm kind of hurt that you were keeping so much from me, I'll admit, but we're still friends, and... well, I don't know a lot about friends myself, but… I think it's alright if they hurt each other sometimes."

Xion nodded wordlessly as Roxas pulled her into a tight hug. She returned the gesture gratefully. They stood like that for a long time, silent as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon.

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

By the time the two of them finally broke apart, the sky had faded to a pale indigo streaked with stars. Lea hovered by the door to the stairwell, arms folded and foot beating an impatient rhythm as he considered everything Xion had told him. There were some parts that didn't match up with his own conclusions, as well as several points that made no sense at all; he didn't want to think that Xion would reconcile with the two of them even while holding onto her lies, but...

The stairwell, having no means of illumination other than the moonlight streaming in from the windows far above, was dimly lit. Yet even in the semi-darkness that limited his vision to no more than a few feet, Lea was easily able to see the way Roxas and Xion furtively yet deliberately brushed up against each other as they made their way down the stairs. It irked him. There was a moment about halfway down the tower when Xion slipped on some unseen piece of debris and was only saved from a headlong tumble down the stairs by Roxas' hand darting out to grab her own. Thereafter, they continued their descent hand in hand.

The sight made Lea feel strangely lonely.

* * *

**Act I - End**

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	8. Downpour

Downpour

Traverse Town

Day 03

* * *

**Roxas, Xion, and Lea**

* * *

He had always had good reflexes. So when the twisted, malformed claws composed of naught but writhing darkness changed course mid-swipe and arced toward his neck, Roxas was ready. He fell backward into a half-crouch and brought his Keyblade up in a retaliatory backhand swing that passed through the heartless' arm like silk, severing it. A brief flurry of slices later, the heartless dissolved into a cloud of oily darkness that evaporated into the night. Exhausted, Roxas allowed the tip of his Keyblade to fall to the rain-slicked cobblestones and sat down with a muffled splash. Behind him, he heard Xion do the same.

"Hey… Xi- Xion, are you alright?" he asked after he had caught his breath enough to speak.

"Yeah… yeah I think," she replied. "You?"

"I'm fine," said Roxas. He pushed a mat of sweat-slicked hair away from his eyes and glanced around Traverse Town's central plaza, still breathing heavily. "I don't… I don't see Axel though."

"I'm fine," came a sullen voice from somewhere off to the side. "Wet though. I hate the rain. And heartless. It's like someone knew I was coming and said 'hey, let's prepare a smorgasbord of things that Lea doesn't like.'"

Roxas and Xion laughed weakly.

"Well," said Roxas, "I was kind of wondering when this would happen; we do still have Keyblades after all."

"We do," agreed Xion, "but with everything that's happened… I didn't think there would still be this many Heartless roaming free."

"It is weird," admitted Roxas, "but… for now, let's just get out of the rain. I'm freezing." He pushed himself to his feet with some amount of difficulty and turned to offer a hand to Xion, who accepted it with a tired smile. When she was on her feet, Roxas looked around the plaza once more and spotted Lea standing beneath an overhang at the mouth of an alley; he was holding a square of cardboard over his head and looked thoroughly miserable.

"'Let's go to Traverse Town,' he said," mocked Lea. "'We're not sure that Sora will really make his way to the Destiny Islands, so let's stock up on supplies first,' he said." Lea glared. "'We won't need supplies if he's actually at the Destiny Islands,' I argued, yet here we are."

"… Well," said Roxas upon deciding that coming up with some clever response would require more effort than he was currently willing to invest, "let's head to that inn I guess. I don't remember what it's called, but I think they have a small shop downstairs; we should be able to find something to wear until our clothes dry."

* * *

**\- Some time later -**

* * *

"It wouldn't have been my first choice, but…"

Xion twisted about to examine herself in the mirror. She wore thin sky-blue robes patterned with creamy-white swirls and flourishes. The sleeves, wide and overlong to her tastes, hung just below her waist when her arms were at her sides. The hem of the robe, separated from the upper portion by a loosely-tied cream-colored sash, came to a halt just below the top of her thighs, which were now covered in loose, baggy shorts of the same creamy white coloring; they reminded her vaguely of something that Roxas might wear. The clerk had all but forced a pair of snug-fitting slippers on her as well ('they're an indispensable part of the set, you see'), so those had found their way onto her feet as the clerk smiled and bowed repeatedly.

_It's not that bad, I suppose. It really highlights how pale my skin is, though... _

So it was that Xion exited the fitting room and found both Roxas and Lea seated in plump, faded armchairs that faced the door. Lea's hair was still wrapped in what could only have been a wad of bath towels, she saw, making him look like nothing so much as an overlarge mushroom, and Roxas seemed, from the way his head was tilted to the side, to be sound asleep. Lea glanced up when she appeared, blinked in surprise, and gave a low whistle that made Roxas snort and twitch in his sleep.

"Well well," he said, "don't we look fancy? And here I thought that Roxas and I would be hogging the spotlight for the foreseeable future."

Xion grinned sheepishly. Roxas and Lea were wearing matching robes of a simple pinstripe-and-wave pattern; Lea's robes were colored black and silver with red swirls whereas Roxas' were white cream with sky-blue swirls. Roxas' robes, Xion noted, were slightly too big for him and hung somewhat loosely about his neck. She also noticed that the coloring of her outfit matched Roxas' at the same time as Lea, the latter of whom sighed in resignation. Xion giggled.

"Hey, mud-for-brains," yawned Lea, stretching and poking Roxas in the shoulder. "Xion's finished. Wake up so we can go to bed."

Roxas muttered a sleepy complaint and opened his eyes reluctantly. He blinked lethargically when he saw Xion standing before him in her new outfit, made a noncommittal noise in his throat, and started to fall back to sleep. Lea sighed again and punched him in the shoulder with enough force to briefly rock his chair onto two of its legs. Startled and visibly annoyed, Roxas awoke with a grunt and tried to return the punch, which Lea caught in his fist.

"Geez… you're a handful, you know that?" he said. "Come on now, up. Let's get out of here before that old man tries to force anything else on us."

"Fine… I'm a-… I'm aw- wake…" yawned Roxas, pulling his hand from Lea's grasp. "Where's Xion? Did she find anything to…" He looked around in a daze and found Xion standing not ten feet away. "Ah. So that's what you went with?" He eyed her up and down unashamedly while Xion frowned in suspicion.

"What?" she asked defensively.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. That outfit looks nice and all, but… man, your skin is really, really pale, you know? You need to get some sun or something."

Xion stared at Roxas.

Lea stared at Roxas.

Roxas frowned in confused at the sudden ire.

"What? All I said was-"

"… I'm going to bed," sighed Xion. "Goodnight Axel."

"'night," replied Lea as Xion swept from the room. When the door had closed, he turned a disappointed frown upon Roxas.

"Roxas," he began. "… I know that you're not very… sensitive to these things. But I'm going to ask you anyway. If a pretty girl who you like and who you're fairly sure likes you shows up for a date in a new outfit, what do you say?"

Roxas stared blankly.

"… I would tell her that the outfit… ah, well… I would tell her that she… looks good in the outfit?"

"Correct," admitted Lea. "Anything else?"

Roxas considered it for a moment, and then said, "No. I mean, I guess the next thing would be to ask her where she wanted to go, but… Axel? what's wrong?"

Lea's head was bowed as he massaged his temples in frustration.

"Roxas," he began, "you…" he struggled to find a way to put voice to his thoughts, but had to settle for shrugging and clapping Roxas on the shoulder.

"Well, you'll figure it out eventually. I know that you can't be totally clueless, so… it'll work itself out." When Roxas merely continued to stare at him with a look of utter bewilderment, Lea sighed and added, "I'm headed to bed as well, I think. Goodnight partner. If you're staying up, try not to make too much noise when you come to bed." He rose ponderously to his feet, reached up to steady the towel wrapped around his hair, and departed for the staircase that lead to the men's rooms.

Alone at last, Roxas sighed and placed his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes for a time, thinking. The reality of the situation was that he knew very well what Lea was trying to tell him. He was also fully aware of his own feelings for Xion, though he wasn't yet entirely sure how best to address them. He was reasonably sure that Xion felt more affection toward him that was appropriate for mere friends, yet he found that he wasn't entirely uncomfortable with it. Having had exactly zero experience in this particular area, however, Roxas was afraid to do or say anything that could endanger their recently-repaired friendship.

_This is giving me a headache._

Only when the store owner came bustling over to insist that he go to bed did Roxas rouse himself from his chair and trudge off toward the men's rooms, lost in thought. Lea was snoring loudly when Roxas opened the door, his hair still wrapped in the absurd cocoon he had constructed out of bath towels. Smirking at the thought of what that tangled, matted mess would look like in the morning once the towels were removed, Roxas unrolled his futon and slipped inside. It had been, he thought, a very tiring day. The sudden heartless attack in the plaza hadn't been entirely unexpected, but there had been so _many_ of them… And then, having gotten through that unscathed… Xion had shown up in that... in that...

Roxas felt his face begin to redden.

It wasn't until much later that his thoughts scattered into the darkness and sleep finally took him.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	9. Drops of Jupiter

Drops of Jupiter

Traverse Town

Day 04

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Hazy, transient shapes swam in and out of existence within Roxas' dreams; tails of half-forgotten lullabies and half-remembered promises swirled through the sleepy darkness in their wake, scattering into nothingness when Roxas tried to grasp them. He had encountered dreams of this nature with increasing regularity since he and Xion had been reunited. It was, he suspected, his mind's way of trying to mend the severed connections that had once been his memories of their relationship. It was a frustrating experience to have to sit through every time he closed his eyes in sleep, but if there was a way to prevent it, he had not yet found it.

So when Roxas opened his eyes and beheld slashes of fiery sunlight fanning out across the ceiling from the half-shuttered window, he sighed in quiet appreciation and began to squirm out of his futon. The room, he noticed, was still bathed in the pale blue half-darkness that one often saw just before dawn. Murky, indistinct shapes crowded together along the walls. Taking extreme care not to trip over Lea, still snoring loudly, Roxas began to quietly make his way toward their bags; they had set them against the wall just inside the door so that they would be out of the way when they rolled out their futons the night before.

He had nearly made it to the door when his bare foot brushed against something soft and oddly warm. He froze.

His thoughts muddled by drowsiness, Roxas stood silent and unmoving, unsure of what to do.

_Axel. I'd better not-… but… Axel is asleep over there. Maybe... do the owners have a cat? But cats... so that means..._

…

_Wait a minute._

_Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute._

_Is this-_

Xion coughed and sniffled in her sleep. Roxas groaned.

_... Ah._

Confused, Roxas crouched down and carefully felt around in the darkness until his fingers brushed against skin.

_She's warm._

He frowned.

_Really warm._

"… Xion?" he whispered. "Hey, can you hear me?" He felt around until he found her shoulder and gently shook her. "Xion. Wake up."

She muttered a sleepy complaint and tried to push his hand away but ended up simply covering it with her own. She sniffled again.

Quickly growing more concerned, Roxas reached out and shook her more roughly with his other hand.

"Xion," he said more loudly. "Can you hear-"

"I can hear you just fine, Roxas," murmured Xion hoarsely. "Now shut up and let me-" She coughed again. "-let me sleep. I don't feel that great."

"… Ah," said Roxas, unsure of how else to reply. "Well… what are you doing in h-… I mean, are you alright?" He recalled the things that Lea had talked to him about the night before and felt himself blushing unduly. "I mean, can I get you anything or-"

"Roxas…" sighed Xion, interrupting him. "I'm fine. Just… don't worry about me." She succumbed to brief coughing fit. When she had caught her breath, she added, "You'll make me feel worse if you keep me awake running your mouth."

"Well… okay, if you're sure," said Roxas reluctantly. In the relative silence that followed, he realized that the snoring had stopped. A glance over his shoulder revealed Lea's silhouette sitting against the wall beneath the window, legs crossed, trying valiantly yet unsuccessfully to drag a comb through his hair. When he noticed Roxas' head turned in his direction, Lea shrugged in defeat in tossed the comb to the floor.

"Hey…" began Roxas, "you know that Xion-"

"Yeah… Yeah I know," yawned Lea. "She woke me up when she came shuffling in here around two in the morning. Said the old man downstairs let her pass without making too much of a fuss when he saw the state she was in."

Roxas returned his gaze to Xion. In the slowly brightening room, he was just able to make out the counters of her face and the vague outline of her hand upon his. Her hair clung to her forehead in sweat-sodden strings and mats.

Lea watched the two of them silently for a moment before rising to his feet and making his way over to their bags. Xion's pack, Roxas noticed, was there as well, thrown haphazardly to the side. After rummaging through his own pack and seeming not to find what he needed, Lea glanced at Xion and then started going through hers. He soon produced a bundle of small towels and tossed them to Roxas, who caught them one-handed.

"She would think to bring this kind of stuff," muttered Lea. "Here, help me with this."

A few minutes later, Xion was lying in Roxas' futon with the covers pulled up to her chest ("It smells weird. And it's kind of damp. Do you really sweat this much when you sleep, Roxas?") and a damp towel draped across her forehead. Lea seemed to have given up on straightening his hair and had instead gathered it into an untidy ponytail that hung nearly to his waist; Roxas snorted in derision at the stray hairs sprouting out all along its length.

"I'm going to go collect our clothes," said Lea after they had made certain Xion was comfortable, "and I'll speak to the old man about letting us use this room for another day or so. It doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

Roxas, sitting next to Xion's head and trying, with minimal success, to comb out his hair, nodded his agreement. "I'll stay-"

"You stay here with Xion," said Lea, grinning over his shoulder as he stepped into the hallway and slid the door closed behind him.

Once Lea's footsteps had faded into the distance, Roxas looked uncertainly at Xion and was surprised to find her staring at him with eyes bright with fever.

"… Xion?"

She didn't respond, but merely continued to gaze at him enigmatically.

"What's wrong?" asked Roxas. "Do you need something?"

After a moment, Xion sighed and returned her gaze to the ceiling.

"Oh… I do," she replied hoarsely. "I need… a great many things." She paused as though she was uncertain of what she wanted to say. "… a great many things," she repeated, "but… Roxas, can I tell you something?"

_I have a bad feeling about this._

"… Yeah," said Roxas after a moment. "Yeah, anything. Is it… well… something that you didn't want to say in front of Axel?"

Xion smiled weakly.

"I think Axel already knows."

"… Oh," said Roxas. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Xion was looking at him again, he knew. He directed his gaze elsewhere.

"Roxas…" she began, but she seemed to think better of whatever she was about say and instead asked, "Could you change this towel please? It's not cold anymore."

"Yeah… yeah, sure," he replied, relieved, though he couldn't have said why. He fished a fresh towel out of the bucket that had been placed near the futon, wrung it out, and was reaching for the one that lay across Xion's brow when her hand closed weakly around his wrist.

He didn't say anything.

"… Roxas," said Xion, smiling thinly, "I'm not… I probably won't have enough courage to say this when I'm well, so…"

Roxas realized that he was sweating every bit as much as she was. When had the room grown so warm?

Xion brought her other hand up to cup his cheek.

"I really… really… like you, Roxas," she breathed. "I've liked you for a long time. You are… the most precious friend I could ever ask for, and I…"

Roxas was suddenly aware that he was leaning over her, though he couldn't have said how that came to be. Her face was alarmingly close to his own; he could see every bead of sweat that clung to the pinkish tinge of her cheeks above the ivory paleness of her jaw and neck. She smelled faintly of sweat, but Roxas found that he didn't care.

"And I…"

The hand that had been holding his wrist had moved to his chest.

The room had fallen silent.

Roxas tried to think, tried to reason, tried to speak, yet his brain seemed to have stopped working. He found one of his hands slipping beneath Xion's neck as he used the other to hold himself up, found her fingers running through his hair, and after a moment's hesitation that seemed to stretch into eternity, he found her lips on his.

_She tastes… sweet._

He couldn't have said how long the kiss lasted, but when they broke apart, Roxas saw something in Xion's eyes that he had observed many times before, yet never recognized. Now, knowing it for what it was, it created a feeling of inexpressible warmth deep within his chest to see such a look directed at him; it filled a void within his heart that he had never known was there. Then she was kissing him again, and he was kissing her back just as desperately. He was dimly aware of footsteps approaching the door, dimly aware of the door beginning to open, then sliding closed, dimly aware of footsteps receding down the hallway, but he paid the distractions no mind. All that mattered was Xion's hand on the back of his neck, Xion's breath mingling with his own, Xion's mouth opening under his...

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	10. Older Brother - I

Older Brother - I

Traverse Town

Day 04

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

It was an odd feeling, being the eldest within a group of close friends. Lea was certain that such a trifling matter meant little to Roxas and Xion, but to those outside of their group... well, suffice to say that he had grown keenly aware of the grossly facile notion that age and wisdom ran hand in hand. Prior to the events that had lead up to Xion's death, Lea had been the one who was questioned (and often reprimanded) whenever Roxas was late to work; when Xion had shown reluctance to adhere to her designated role, it was to Lea the senior members of the Organization had brought their scowls and accusations. That was not say, of course, that he disliked being thrust into such a role; Lea felt a great affection for both Roxas and Xion and viewed it as his duty to teach them as any elder sibling would. His decisions, while sometimes foolish, were unfailingly earnest and heartfelt. He had noticed a similar trait gradually taking form within Roxas, and took great pride in it.

Just now, however, he dearly wished that there was someone else willing to take up the reins of responsibility in his stead.

He had always known, of course. It was painfully obvious that the relationship Roxas and Xion had constructed went well beyond the territory of platonic friendship. Whether either of them realized such a thing was another matter entirely, however, so Lea had never payed it much mind. But now...

_Kissing huh?_

Lea supposed that he should have realized that such a thing would happen eventually. It was perfectly natural, if not entirely expected. No, kissing was not something that he took issue with; the knowledge that the two of them were able to finally, clearly communicate their feelings to each other filled him with a heady sense of relief.

What troubled Lea was what would inevitably come later.

Having nearly walked in on the two of them upon returning with their laundry, Lea had stifled his surprise and quietly retreated into the hallway with his thoughts. If that had been the end of it, his fears would have been assuaged and life could have continued as normal.

But it was not to be.

Even with a sizable stretch of hallway to spare between his present position and the door to their room, Lea was able to clearly hear the conversation taking place within.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to… well, you know," said a delicate, shy voice that undoubtedly belonged to Xion.

"Well… me too," Roxas admitted. "But it was a little more…"

"You're blushing," teased Xion.

"So are you," replied Roxas defensively.

"And whose fault is that?" countered Xion. "You're the one who made the first move."

"The first- I did not!" protested Roxas. "You were the one who… with your… you're the one who said that you… well…"

"So I did," sighed Xion. "… And look what it led to," she added wistfully.

"Yeah, well…" stammered Roxas. "It's not like I really… before I realized what I was doing, I-"

"Oh? So you take it back, then?"

"No… no, I don't," replied Roxas earnestly. "It was actually kind of…"

His words trailed off into silence. Lea quietly crept up the hallway and pressed his ear against the door. He thought that he could just make out a faint rustle of movement.

"Well…" said Xion coyly, "we could, you know… I don't think Axel's going to be back for a while, so…"

There was more rustling, followed by a yelp of distress from Roxas.

"H-hey! Where're you putting your hands?"

"Quit being such a crybaby," chided Xion. "That was clearly an accident."

There was yet more rustling, followed by silence.

Lea stifled a groan.

_What have I allowed to happen?_

It occurred to him that he should probably stop the two of them before things went any further, yet he found that he was oddly uncomfortable with establishing such a role for himself. Part of him also felt that he had no right to impose upon their relationship in such a way, yet…

"Roxas, what're you doing? Get your hands away from there."

Lea choked on his own saliva as he inhaled in shock and threw open the door, red-faced and coughing.

"The- The hell are you two doing in here?" he managed between wheezing hacks. "It's fi-fine that you two feel that way about each other, but-"

He fell abruptly silent as the full impact of the scene arrayed before him took hold. Both Roxas and Xion, sitting some distance away and facing each other, each holding a fan of playing cards, were staring at him in surprise and bewilderment. A small pile of plastic chips lay between them. The cover from Roxas' futon was wrapped loosely around the both of them and they seemed to be sitting rather closer than was necessary, but aside from that…

"Oh wow, look at that!" shouted Roxas suddenly, thrusting a finger toward Lea. "Look at how red his face is turning!"

"You're… you're right," chimed Xion, trying to suppress a snicker and failing miserably. "What's this all about, Axel? You look like you were expecting to see something else."

Lea said nothing for several moments. He tried to affect an angry scowl but from the way Roxas and Xion snorted in unison, he suspected that it had come across as merely embarrassed. There were several things, however, that he did notice that he felt were worth questioning. Roxas' hair, though it had been less than presentable when Lea had left to collect their clothing, was now in absolute disarray. He seemed to be sweating as well, though the room was cool and comfortable. The most telling sign, however, was that Xion, though still clearly sick and feverish, seemed to be in a much better mood than the one in which he had left her.

Sighing, Lea folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"Just what did you two get up to while I was gone?"

They looked at each other blankly, and then turned back to Lea.

"… Talked," they said in unison.

"Talked," repeated Lea flatly. "I'm sure. What else?"

They simultaneously held up their cards in answer.

"And?"

They paused, thinking. Then Roxas grabbed a handful of the cover wrapped about them and held it out toward Lea in silence.

"Roxas… I could interpret that several different ways, but…"

They sighed in unison, then turned toward each other and leaned in for a light, quick kiss. Their gazes, mischievous and deliberate, never broke away from Lea's own.

"… Mostly," said Roxas, smirking as they pulled back.

Lea scowled.

"Mostly? Meaning…?"

"Meaning… mostly," replied Xion, smiling faintly.

Lea decided, upon reflection, that if there were details to be had, he had little desire to know them. He contented himself with shaking his head in resignation and turned to collect their clothing from where he had dropped it in the hallway.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	11. Older Brother - II

Older Brother - II

Destiny Islands - Mainland

Day 10

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

They had spent two days and three nights in Traverse Town before Xion was well enough to travel. Her condition had worsened slightly on the second day, which had given Lea and Roxas no small amount of worry, but fate was kind and she had awoken the next morning fully recovered. The three of them had departed Traverse Town in high spirits, optimistic about the task that had been set before them. Roxas and Xion in particular seemed to take special comfort in each other's company, and while Lea was easily able to find it in his heart to be happy for them, the extent to which they clung to each other was quickly becoming an annoyance.

So it was that when the three of them had stopped amid a grassy field at dusk to set up camp on the fourth day of their journey, Lea quietly pulled Roxas aside and had a heart-to-heart about his and Xion's behavior. Initially confused, then annoyed, and finally angry, Roxas asked him what business it was of his. That was when Lea realized for the first time that the dynamic of their relationship had changed. No longer were the three of them friends on equal footing; now, Roxas and Xion were nigh on inseparable and he, Lea, had become an outsider.

That realization made him feel indescribably lonely.

It made him slightly angry as well.

"Now listen, Roxas," he said as his friend glared up at him. "I'm not trying to get in the way of anything you and Xion feel for each other, but don't think you're being a little… don't you think you're moving too quickly? You're acting… different as well."

When Roxas' mouth tightened into a hard line, Lea knew that he had said the wrong thing.

"Moving too… and what's that supposed to mean?" snapped Roxas. "It's not like… It's not like I have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, you know. Neither does Xion… and neither do you," he added coldly.

_Isa… Keep me from punching this kid in the face._

"See, that's exactly what I mean," explained Lea in an even voice. "You're not acting like yourself. You're…" he paused and looked up at the sky as though he hoped to see the words which he sought written there. "You're… more sour and moody. Granted, you're always moody and you've always had a temper, but how often have you spoken to _me _like this? How often have you been this angry - seriously, legitimately angry - over something like this? … It's not like you."

Something stirred in Roxas' eyes. He held Lea's gaze defiantly for a few more moments, then exhaled loudly and looked down at his feet.

"… Sorry," he muttered. "It's just…" He trailed off into silence.

Knowing Roxas as he did, Lea thought that he had a fairly accurate idea of what was fueling his ire. He was less sure of what to do about it. The only thing he could think of to do was to convince Roxas to put words to whatever was bothering him; aside from the relief he would feel by sharing his worries, Lea hoped that such a discussion would serve to remind Roxas that their friendship remained unchanged.

"It's just…?" prompted Lea.

Roxas stood silently for a moment, then mumbled so quietly that Lea could scarce make out the words, "… promise you won't tell Xion?"

"… I can't promise that," replied Lea after briefly considering the matter, "but I'll listen to whatever it is that's bothering you. Though you have some nerve asking me that after the way you've-"

"I get, alright?" interjected Roxas irritably. "I said I was sorry."

_Brat…_

"Anyway," he continued, "It's that, um… well, I mean, I'm not really sure that I… I mean, I do, but…. I don't think it's the same, and…"

"Roxas. Rox- Roxas, stop. Stop," said Lea wearily, holding up a hand to stop his babbling while massaging his temples with the other. "I know exactly where you're going with this, so just… relax. You're... man oh man. You're confused and worried because you suspect that what you feel for Xion and what Xion feels for you aren't necessarily the same thing. Am I right?"

Roxas blinked in surprise and then turned a brilliant shade of magenta.

"That's… how did you- that's exactly right, but-… wow Axel, how did you know that?" he blurted out, his embarrassment momentarily forgotten.

_Because I've already gone through puberty._

He couldn't say that, however, so he replied with an enigmatic smile and ruffled Roxas' hair.

"Well… when you think about it, it's kind of obvious that that's how it would be. You only have a few days' worth of memories of Xion, so while you have a definite opinion of her character, as well as feelings that I have no doubt are legitimate, you don't have the kind of intimate knowledge that she has of you. A few days, Roxas. Think on that. Do you understand why I'm saying that you're moving too quickly? But... truth be known, I think that she liked you before…" He gestured vaguely. "… before everything happened. I got the impression that you had some measure of feelings for her as well, though you either didn't realize it at the time or didn't know what to do with them."

Roxas had listened to all of this with rapt attention, and was now rubbing the back of his neck in thought.

"So…" he began, "you think that I'm…"

"I think that you're attracted to Xion," said Lea bluntly. "And I'm positive that she's attracted to you as well, but I think her attachment to you goes much deeper than that. And that's perfectly fine. She knows that she can't expect that level of reciprocation right now, so she's content with simply having you at her side."

He waved his hand self-consciously.

"But it's not my place to be telling you these things. I've only said as much as I have because it was clearly eating at you… and because you're too afraid to ask Xion yourself," he added with a smirk.

Roxas smiled uncertainly.

"… Look," he muttered after a moment, "I'm sorry that I've been so… does it feel like we're leaving you out? Because… I've kinda felt that way too. And it bothers me. Xion's said that we need to include you-"

"I have no interest in being included in whatever it is you and Xion do together," said Lea in a deadpan tone that made Roxas grin. "But… thank you. And it really wasn't…well, I probably shouldn't have said anything to you about the way you two have been acting, but…"

"But it bothered you," said Roxas quietly.

"… Yeah," admitted Lea. "I've felt kind of… "

Roxas stared at him for a moment, then sighed and made a show of shrugging helplessly as he turned to head back toward their tents.

"Well, I'll talk to Xion and see what all we can include you in. The best stuff is off-limits, but…"

Lea shook his head, grinning.

"I'm sure."

Roxas paused and looked back at Lea over his shoulder.

"… Thanks," they said in unison.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	12. Selfish

Selfish

Destiny Islands - Mainland

Day 10

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

"You sure took your time," teased Xion when she saw Roxas making his way toward her in the moonlight. "What did Axel want?"

Roxas shrugged as he picked his way around the rocks and gopher holes that dotted the grassy slope upon which Xion lay. It was romantic enough, he supposed, but the conversation he had had with Axel weighed heavily upon his conscience. Xion seemed to sense his preoccupation when he lowered himself to the grass beside her. She watched him silently for a time before reluctantly returning her gaze to the stars. Roxas, lost in thought, said nothing until he felt the warmth of her hand enclose his own. He pulled his gaze away from the stars and looked over at her, blades of grass tickling his cheek.

_She looks so… fragile._

Bathed in the moonlight, Xion's preternaturally pale skin took on a ghostly hue; it gave her a delicate, otherworldly appearance that Roxas found strangely attractive.

"Axel's… lonely, isn't he?" asked Xion quietly. She turned her head to look at Roxas, unsmiling.

"Yeah… yeah, he is," answered Roxas reluctantly, "but he's… I told him we'd try to be more…" he gestured vaguely with his free hand. "I dunno. Inclusive? It sounds bad to say it that way, but…"

"I see," said Xion. "Well... I can understand why he would feel that way. He gave off that impression before you lost your memories as well, though he was less obvious about it. If I'm being honest with myself, I think I had feelings for you even back then that went beyond what was appropriate for close friends. I didn't say anything, though. I didn't act on those impulses… for several reasons. I was scared of doing or saying something that might drive you away, primarily, but… I also wasn't sure what kind of effect that would have on our relationship as a group. Axel and I became friends solely because of you, and I didn't want my acting selfishly upon my feelings toward you to ruin that."

Roxas stretched uncomfortably. "Yeah, he might've mentioned it. We talked about a few other things as well, but… I think he was more bothered by how I've been acting toward him than by anything we've said or done together."

Xion smiled faintly. "Ah, so that's… I was wondering when he was going to bring it up."

Roxas groaned. "If you knew I was acting like that, why didn't you say anything? You have no idea how guilty I've felt since he called me out on it."

"Because I understand," replied Xion gently, "and because I'm selfish. I'm fully aware that, as far your memories are concerned, I've known you for far longer than you've known me. I can't expect you to even begin to understand how important… how precious you are to me, and I can't, I don't, expect you to be able to fully reciprocate my feelings toward you. To be perfectly honest, when I confessed to you back at the inn, I had absolutely no intention of… letting it go further than that, but you just… I don't know. It was like something I had always dreamed of but never expected to actually possess was suddenly lying right in my path."

She smiled thinly.

"So… I acted on impulse. I was more surprised than you can imagine when you actually returned the kiss; I expected you to sprint out of the room yelling for Axel."

Roxas laughed and gave her hand a squeeze. "Well… I was surprised, but… it wasn't… you know… I liked it," he finished awkwardly.

"Oh? Is that so?" teased Xion, grinning.

"Yeah, that's so," replied Roxas flatly, "so…"

"So do you understand that, for now, I'm content with this?" asked Xion. "You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty about your feelings. I promise."

She sighed quietly and shuffled over to lay her head in the crook of his shoulder. "So... I'm fine with being selfish for just a little while longer."

* * *

**Act II - End**

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	13. Unchained - Prologue

Unchained – Prologue

Destiny Islands - Isle of Beginnings

Day 11

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

_Not here either._

Lea stifled a weary yawn. He was tired, hot, dirty, and exhausted. The fifth day of their search for Sora had borne little fruit; following Yen Sid's advice, the three of them had chosen the Destiny Islands as their first stop. While Lea agreed that the isles were one of the more likely places to which Sora might have fled, he had difficulty believing that Sora would have fled at all. The version of Sora that resided within Lea's mind would likely have acted just as his Nobody counterpart; failing some unforeseen intervention by his friends, Yen Sid would have undoubtedly been his first choice for shelter and guidance.

The fact that Yen Sid thought otherwise was troubling. Not for the first time, Lea found himself wondering exactly how much the aged sorcerer knew but elected not to divulge.

"We've looked everywhere," sighed Roxas as he sat down in the sand with a muffled _thump. _Xion, wearily nodding her agreement, followed suit. "This was the last island, wasn't it? Can't we head back to the tower now?"

"Sora's definitely not here," chorused Xion. "I don't really think he would've had much reason to come here in the first place, though." She wiped a fall of sweat-soaked hair away from her eyes and looked up at Lea, squinting in the sunlight. "Do you know why Yen Sid thought he might've been hiding here, Axel?"

_Why're you asking me?_

"Nah," grunted Lea. "I was actually wondering about that myself. Seems kinda weird, considering. Never really figured Sora for a runner."

"Maybe he's injured and can't move?" mused Roxas aloud. Xion averted her gaze in guilt.

"We don't know that," said Lea evenly. "It's... a possibility that we can't discount, but again, the old man didn't seem to think that was the case."

"... sorry," muttered Xion quietly. Lea frowned and put his hands on his hips.

"What're you sorry for?" he asked flatly. "It's not like we know exactly what happened; could be that something else we haven't even thought of yet was-"

"It was me!" shouted Xion suddenly.

The unexpected outburst was followed by a ringing silence. Both Lea and Roxas gazed at Xion in wide-eyed surprise, unsure of how to react. Absurdly, Lea thought that Xion seemed to be just as surprised as anyone; her hands had immediately snapped upward to cover her mouth, her eyes wide and fearful. Lea felt a heavy, sick feeling beginning to take form in the pit of his stomach; he had been under the impression that, while still undoubtedly (and understandably) pained by the consequences of her actions, Xion had resolved at least some measure of her guilt upon their reunion. Had the necessary words not been spoken atop the clock tower at sunset? Had the right gestures not been made, forgiveness and mutual understanding clearly communicated? The feeling that had been forming within Lea's gut twisted painfully as another possibility occurred to him; rather than a simple regression that, with time, could be worked through, what if Xion had never truly released her grip on her feelings of guilt in the first place? Putting on an act to ease the tension between the three of them seemed very much like something she would do.

_Selflessness has its limits._

Before Lea could find the right words, however, Xion's eyes fluttered closed. She swayed on her knees, and then fell, almost gracefully, onto her side. No sooner had her head come to rest upon the sand than Roxas followed suit, wordlessly collapsing where he sat.

_... What?_

Lea looked on in stunned silence, his annoyance mounting rapidly. "... Xion?" he ventured when neither of them showed any signs of movement. "Roxas? What're... what're you guys doing? Is this some kind of joke?"

The incessant roar of the ocean was his only reply.

"... Gotta be kidding me," he muttered. "What am I supposed to do with this? I know you wanted to go back to the tower, but this is a bit..."

Deciding that, for the moment, there was little risk in doing so, Lea raised a solitary finger to a place just below his right ear; after emitting a brief chime, a small silver earring from which dangled a pink crystal winked into view. Lea, feeling tremendously awkward speaking to himself, cleared his throat.

"Old man, it's me. We've finished our investigation of the Destiny Islands. Sora wasn't here. Roxas and Xion... have both collapsed. Don't know why, so it'd probably be best to prepare rooms for them; we'll be returning to the tower shortly. Xion's acting kinda weird, so we'll be coming in through the observatory. Not that I think she's dangerous or anything, but... can't be too careful. See ya soon."

Lea removed his finger and the crystal disappeared in a flash of light. It would, Lea knew, appear in Yen Sid's study momentarily, recorded message in tow. It was a very interesting device; he never would have thought to combine magic and technology in such a way, but it had turned out to be extremely practical.

He looked down at Roxas and Xion's limp forms, allowed himself a weary sigh, and gestured toward the ocean, prompting a Corridor of Darkness to warp and twist into existence.

* * *

**The Dreamer**

* * *

_Tired._

_Tired of Darkness._

_Tired of Loneliness. _

_Your pain._

_Your call._

_My poor other half. _

_Weak._

_Tattered._

_Trapped._

_Let me break the chains that bind you._

_Let me break them all._

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	14. Unchained - I

Unchained – I

Mysterious Tower

Day 13

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

_It was my choice… to go away now. Better that than to do nothing… and let Xemnas have his way. I'm like you, Roxas. I don't remember much from the beginning either. Well… I'm just glad the two of you are in the organization with me. Even if I'm not ready… I have to make this choice. I need you… to do me a favor. Remember… that's the truth. Your… friend? Roxas, do you think I could be a friend? You've poured so many memories into me… given me so much… Remember… That's the truth. Truth. That's… could I be a friend? This puppet… I worry about you all the time, Roxas. Even if I'm not ready do you think I could be you've poured so many I don't remember much from let Xemnas have-_

_No! Xion! Who else will I have ice cream with?!_

_Remember… That's the truth…_

"Xion!"

Roxas awoke in a panic. He could taste a salty mixture of tears and sweat upon his lips as he flailed about in the darkness, frantic and confused. One of his feet came into contact with something solid and sent it crashing to the floor. The noise attracted the attention of someone sitting just around the corner outside of his room; the door swung open with such force that it rebounded off the wall. Light stabbed at his eyes.

"Did I hear- He's awake! You- yes you, go wake the king and tell him that Roxas has woken up! Hurry!"

Squinting his eyes against the sudden intrusion of light into a room that had been utterly dark only moments before, Roxas was able to discern a tall, slender silhouette standing in the doorway with its hands pressed to either side of the frame.

"Who-" was all that Roxas had time to say before the figure had closed the distance between them and scooped him up into a bone-shattering hug that momentarily cut off his air supply with its intensity. He kicked feebly at the shins of the person holding him, but Lea only laughed and squeezed him tighter.

"Roxas! You have no idea how happy I am that you're-"

"Y-yeah," wheezed Roxas as he tried ineffectually to wriggle out of Lea's grasp. "I gathered. Let- let me go, Axel. I seriously can't-" He stumbled backward and fell to the ground, gasping for air, when Lea released him. His mind was a maelstrom of unasked questions. "What… I don't- I don't know what I want to ask fir...- Xion!" Roxas scrambled awkwardly to his feet and had to grasp a bedpost to keep from falling. "Xion, what's- Axel, did you-"

"Rox- hold on. Calm down," advised Axel, reaching out to steady him. "I don't know what's got you so bent out of shape, but we can-"

"Xion!" shouted Roxas desperately. "Why- you know who I'm talking about, right? Xion? She… she… I don't know why, but I suddenly remembered everything from before and… I have to tell…..… Why are you looking at me like that?"

For Lea was frowning at Roxas with no small amount of concern. There was something else there as well, but it was harder to define. Roxas thought that it reminded him of pity.

His sense of panic threatened to spiral out of control. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Roxas… ah, well…" Lea looked away uncomfortably.

_No… no, no…_

"I-Is it… is she injured?" said Roxas hoarsely. "Is that it? Did something happen while I was unconscious and-"

"Roxas…" said Lea, gently interrupting him. "I don't… I thought you knew."

"Knew? Knew what? Axel, don't… please… this isn't…"

Lea stared at him for a long moment.

"Xion is gone."

_Never forget… that's the truth._

Roxas blinked dumbly.

"… Gone?" he finally managed. "You mean, like she's… she's gone off somewhere on a mission, or she's…"

"Roxas…" Lea rubbed the side of his neck in discomfort. "Xion… Xion has been gone… for months. I'm… kind of surprised that you even remember her, actually…"

Roxas stared.

"A-Axel…" he began weakly, "this isn't something to joke about, alright? I'm serious, is Xion ok? If she's injured or something, then we'll… we'll deal with it, but at least let me see her. Okay? Just… please…"

Lea looked as the he had never felt sorrier for anyone.

"I'm sorry partner… There's nothing I can do."

Roxas couldn't remember falling, yet he found that he was suddenly gazing up a magnificent domed ceiling bordered with stars. He couldn't seem to make his brain work. There were, as he saw it, only two possibilities. First, something had happened to Xion and Lea was trying, in his perverse, insensitive, idiotic... was trying to spare him that pain. The second option, which Roxas highly doubted, was that Lea was telling him the truth: Xion had vanished the day she sacrificed herself for his sake, and the memories he had made with her over the past two weeks were all a fabrication.

He wasn't sure which possibility he preferred, but he was spared that choice by the timely arrival of the King.

King Mickey frowned at him, not unkindly, and offered a hand to help him to his feet.

Roxas ignored it.

"Is Lea telling the truth about Xion?" he asked in a dead voice.

_Never forget… That's the truth._

The king blinked in puzzlement and looked over his shoulder at Lea, who shrugged.

"… Xion?" he mused, retracting his hand when he saw that Roxas had no intention of accepting it. "You mean that puppet who-"

"She's not a puppet!" shouted Roxas angrily. "She's…"

_... my friend._

_'Roxas? Do you... do you think I could be a friend?'_

Roxas closed his mouth, unable to continue.

"… I see we have some things to talk about," said the king when Roxas had trailed off into silence. "But first… Xion was a p-… a brave girl who, knowing that her predetermined fate would bring harm to her friends – namely Lea and yourself – surrendered her life to protect you. Your memories were erased upon her demise… or at least, they should have been." The King tilted his head to side quizzically. "So what seems to be the issue? Do you disagree with that version of ev-"

"Of course I disagree!" protested Roxas. "I have lots… lots and lots of memories of her from just these past two weeks! Why are you two trying to tell me that she doesn't… that those… Axel!" he exclaimed suddenly. Lea flinched. "We stayed in Traverse Town for several days, right?" Lea nodded his head that it was so. "Why did we stay for so long? We were in a hurry to find Sora, right? Why didn't we buy what supplies we needed and leave right away?"

Lea frowned in thought.

"Well… I don't really remember, to be honest. My memory's kind of fuzzy around-oh!" He grinned. "We stayed because your puny rump got sick and I had to look after you until you were well enough to travel. That's all it was."

Roxas sighed in exasperation.

"I… no, it was Xion who was sick, remember? She came into our room during the night and I found her there the next morning. And… and we…" He felt his face reddening.

"We…?" prompted Lea and the King in unison.

"We… well… it doesn't really matter, but… there's absolutely no way I imagined all of that. You're telling me that I'm just making up-"

"Roxas, you were sick," interrupted Lea, frowning. "You had a ridiculously high fever. I don't doubt that you had some crazy dreams during all that. This deal with Xion was probably just one of them."

Roxas was at a loss. Could he be wrong? Could his reunion with Xion, their relationship, have been nothing more than a fantasy brought on by a fever? The thought made him feel sick to his stomach. He found himself remembering the way she had smiled up at him after they had shared their first kiss back at the inn; he saw her reclining upon a grassy slope the night after a rain, pale and beautiful in the moonlight. He saw her grinning as she danced away from him, ice cream in hand; he saw her smiling up at him after she had tackled him from behind.

He felt an uncomfortable twinge within his heart.

_"Roxas, please..."_

Roxas jerked out of his reverie, startled. He cast his gaze around the room and saw only Lea and the King, both of whom appeared to be at a loss for the cause of his bewilderment.

_"Help me... it's so... lonely. Cold. Dark."_

"X-Xion?!" shouted Roxas, scrambling unsteadily to his feet. "where- I can't-"

_"She doesn't... doesn't... please..."_

Lea and the King were both looking at him with a mixture of concern and panic. Roxas gestured wildly.

"Do you two not hear her? Do you not hear Xion? She- she's in trouble, or..."

His vision began to darken.

"She's... in pain and..."

His hearing began to fade.

"... have to help... please..."

The room suddenly tilted at some crazy angle, and then Roxas was left alone in the darkness with Xion's pleas ringing in his ears.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	15. Unchained - II

Unchained – II

Puppet's Dream

Day 11 - 13

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

She floated numbly in the darkness. Time had no meaning in this place, yet she felt as though she had been drifting aimlessly for an eternity. She had cared, in the beginning, and she had fought her intangible jailer with all of her strength; however, she had soon been forced to come to terms with her imprisonment, and now she felt as empty as the void that cradled her.

_I'm sorry… Oh Roxas, I'm so sorry…_

As there was no longer a need to conceal the full magnitude of the actions she had undertaken in her desperation, she allowed herself to reflect – truly, sincerely reflect – on the bargains she had struck, the lies she had told, the favors she had begged, and, ultimately, what it had cost her.

_*Dreaming again, are we?*_

She was weary of the circular discussions that she had often held with the voice that seemed to call the void its home. She had first become aware of its presence when she had still resided within Sora's heart; she couldn't begin to imagine where such a thing had come from or how it had managed to penetrate such a sacrosanct place, yet she suspected that it had been drawn by her cries when she had screamed into the darkness in the depths of her loneliness.

_*Oh, very good. __Very good indeed, yes. __But this revelation is not new__. __We have discussed it before; your loneliness, pain, and sorrow give me sustenance; thoughts and emotions steeped in darkness give me form__. __But you already know that. __You knew, yet you wanted. You desired. __Covetous. Now look at the situation you've gotten yourself into. Look at all of the work you've laid before me.*__  
_

Xion had the uncomfortable sensation of the darkness closing in around her. She struggled feebly, but found that she was unable to move. Terror gripped her.

_*You have no one to blame for this but yourself, you know. If it's any consolation, know that you're making me put forth more effort than I would wish. That much, at least, you got right.*_

A horrible, billowing silence followed this proclamation. Xion tried with all of her might to move her limbs, but she found that she was unable to do so much as blink. Her level of panic intensified with the realization that all control of her body had been stripped-

_"I like you, Xion, and that's all that matters."_

She felt bile rising up into her throat.

… _No… no, please… don't… that's not…_

Xion twisted in agony as the memory was drawn out of her heart and then viciously ripped into tatters that were swallowed up by the darkness.

_"Your problem is that you're stuck on this idea that we're no longer friends just because I can't remember everything we did together. That's silly."_

Xion screamed.

Xion begged.

Xion felt a surge of pain lance through her heart, and then her awareness faded into a numb haze.

Xion begged.

Xion screamed.

Yourproblemisthattwistedinagonyhorriblebillowingyourhavenoohverygooddreamingagain-

She floated lifelessly in the darkness. Time had no meaning in this place, yet she felt as though she had been drifting aimlessly for an eternity. She had cared, in the beginning, and she had fought her intangible jailer with all of her strength; however, she had soon been forced to come to terms with her imprisonment, and now she felt as empty as the void that cradled her.

She felt as though she had forgotten something important.

_I'm sorry… Oh Roxas, I'm so sorry…_

As there was no longer a need to conceal the full magnitude of the actions she had undertaken in her desperation, she allowed herself to reflect – truly, sincerely reflect – on the bargains she had struck, the lies she had told, the favors she had begged, and, ultimately, what it had cost her.

_*Quite the dreamer, aren't we?*_

She was weary of the circular discussions that she had often held with the voice that seemed to call the void its home. She had first become aware of its presence when she had still resided within Sora's heart; she couldn't begin to imagine where such a thing had come from or how it had managed to penetrate such a sacrosanct place, yet she suspected that it had been drawn by her cries when she had screamed into the darkness in the depths of her loneliness.

_*Oh, you're very amusing. __Quite the detective.*_

She had the uncomfortable sensation of the darkness pressing in around her. She struggled feebly, but found that she was unable to move. Terror gripped her.

_*Selfishness begets naught but darkness. You knew this, yet you persisted in your folly. Look at what it's come to.*_

A heavy, sweltering silence followed. Xion tried with all of her might to move her limbs, but she found that she was unable to do so much as blink. Her level of panic intensified with the realization that all control of her body had been stripped away. She felt utterly helpless.

_"Xion… if you completely understand that you can't expect me to suddenly remember everything we did together, then I'm fine with being friends. In fact, I would like to be your friend. You seem like a good person."_

She felt bile rising up into her throat.

… _No… no… This wasn't… this wasn't part of the…_

Xion twisted in agony as the memory was drawn out of her heart and then viciously ripped into tatters that were swallowed up by the darkness.

_"I really… really… like you, Roxas. You are the absolute most precious friend I could ever have and I… and I…"_

Xion screamed.

Xion begged.

Xion wept.

_*Foolish child.*_

Xion felt a surge of pain rip through her heart, and then her awareness faded into a numb haze.

_*Foolish child.*_

Xion wept.

Xion begged.

Xion screamed.

Ireallyreallyliketwistedinagonynotpartofthebilefrienddarkness-

She floated lethargically in the darkness. Time had no meaning in this place, yet she felt as though she had been drifting aimlessly for an eternity. She had cared, in the beginning, and she had fought her intangible jailer with all of her strength; however, she had soon been forced to come to terms with her imprisonment, and now she felt as empty as the void that cradled her.

She felt as though she had forgotten something important.

_I'm sorry… Oh Roxas, I'm so sorry…_

As there was no longer a need to conceal the full magnitude of the actions she had undertaken in her desperation, she allowed herself to reflect – truly, sincerely reflect – on the bargains she had struck, the lies she had told, the favors she had begged, and, ultimately, what it had cost her.

She cried in the darkness.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	16. Unchained - III

Unchained - III

Mysterious Tower

Day 14

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

The steady ticking of some unseen clock was the only noise to be heard in the otherwise silent tower as Lea idly brushed a fall of sweat-soaked hair away from Roxas' ashen face. He was straddling a chair that he had dragged to Roxas' bedside and was watching his unconscious friend with a mixture of concern and trepidation. The King had gone to wake Yen Sid when Roxas had collapsed, leaving the two of them alone in the darkened bedchamber that smelled faintly of mold and Roxas' sweat.

He was absently fussing with the bedclothes, tugging and smoothing nonexistent wrinkles as if doing so would somehow allow Roxas to sleep more comfortably, when the King returned with Yen Sid in tow.

"… and so I do not believe that to be the case," said the venerable old sorcerer as the two of them came to a halt in the doorway, apparently concluding a conversation that had been held en route to Roxas' bedchamber. The King frowned, but offered no reply.

"For now… let us examine the boy. The other seems to be stable for the moment; I have had Flora and Fauna attending her and they have reported no change… though I do agree that her condition shall need to be addressed sooner rather than later." He waved a hand dismissively. "But we were speaking of the boy."

Roxas twisted in his sleep and muttered something unintelligible. Lea, Yen Sid, and the King watched him apprehensively. He twisted again, groaned, and then fell silent. There was suddenly a horrific crash from the floor above that shook untold centuries of dust from the ceiling. All three men looked upward in alarm. There was a second crash, louder, followed by the telltale shriek of wood being twisted and ground into splinters. Lea leapt to his feet and sprinted for the door, but the King grabbed a handful of his robes and slung him bodily to the floor.

"Get down!" was all that he had time to say before a third crash toppled bookshelves and chairs and flung pictures from the walls. The entire tower swayed with the impact.

"She- she's awake!" shouted the King, scrambling to his feet. "You were right, I didn't think she'd-"

There was a horrific scream from the floor above. It was bestial and inhuman, full of pain and rage, and near the end Lea thought that he could hear a second voice screaming alongside it. He felt something in the pit of his stomach twist uncomfortably.

"Was… was that… Xion?"

Yen Sid and the King looked at him uncertainly.

"Yes," admitted the King, "but not the Xion you know."

"That creature is something altogether different," added Yen Sid. "Something that should not exist within the realms of light, yet-"

Another wail ripped through the tower, shattering lights and windows and plunging the interior into a semi-darkness that was held at bay only by the moonlight. Yen Sid sighed dejectedly and climbed unsteadily to his feet.

"The King and I will try to… We will do what we can to handle this situation. Take Roxas and flee. If you don't hear from us-"

"Wait, stop. Hold on," interrupted Lea. "You'll try to what? Xion isn't-"

"Lea… that's no longer Xion," said the King sadly. "That horror is a manifestation of all of Xion's pain and loneliness. I don't doubt that she's still in there somewhere, but… if there's a way to reach her, we don't know what it could be."

Lea stared blankly, uncomprehending.

"But… but you said, when I brought them here, that-"

"That we would try to help them," said Yen Sid gently. "But this situation is beyond our control. I was able to learn precious little from my initial examination, but it seems that this darkness has been eating away at her heart for quite some time. I am fairly confident that I know what has happened, yet..."

"We're not sure if it's a separate entity," added the King, "but I don't believe that it is. Yen Sid seems to think otherwise, but…"

Yen Sid waved his hand impatiently.

"We can discuss this later. For now, Lea, you must take Roxas and-"

"I'm not going anywhere."

All three men turned around and found Roxas sitting upright, awake, his face concealed in shadow.

There was a deep _thrum _from the floor above followed by the sound of debris tumbling down the stairwell.

By contrast, the bedchamber was utterly silent.

"R… Roxas," began Lea when he could bear the silence no longer, "How long have you-"

"Shut up," said Roxas quietly.

There was a faint rustle of bedclothes as Roxas slid out of the bed and rose to his feet in the darkness. The room was briefly thrown into sharp relief by a stunning flash of light as a Keyblade appeared in his outstretched hand. Lea was just able to discern the silhouette of a Thalassa shell dangling from the grip.

"You lied to me."

Lea mouthed wordlessly, but found that he had no reply to give. Even in the pale semidarkness, he could just see Roxas' eyes glittering in the moonlight, and they were currently narrowed in anger.

"I trusted you. Xion trusted you. Now you're going to just abandon her?"

"That's not-"

"Leave if that's what you want to do. I'll save Xion."

_No, no you're misunderstanding, I would never-_

"Roxas," began Lea carefully, "if you heard what the king and the old man just-"

"I don't care!" shouted Roxas angrily. Lea flinched away in surprise. "I don't care! I finally, somehow, miraculously remember everything - _everything _\- about Xion and you expect me to just abandon her and run?!"

"What is this?" interjected Yen Sid sharply. "Your memories have returned? ... Nonsense. From what Xion herself has told me, such a thing is imposs-"

"No one asked you," said Roxas coldly. "I don't care what she told you and I don't care what you think. If you're not going to help me, then get out of my way."

"Roxas, please," implored Yen Sid as Roxas glared at Lea, "Listen to what we're trying to tell you. Xion, if that creature can still be considered Xion, will not recognize you. I am unable to say how she will react, but it is not outside the realms of possibility that she will attack you."

Roxas shifted his glare to Yen Sid.

"And?"

Yen Sid blinked, at a loss.

"If... You will have to defend yourself; I doubt that she will let you escape if she truly intends to harm you. Do you think-"

"I'll do whatever I have to do to get Xion back," said Roxas flatly. "Now... move. And don't follow me."

Lea staggered backward and very nearly lost his footing as Roxas roughly shouldered past him and into the darkened hallway.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	17. Unchained - Behold the Fury

Unchained: Behold the Fury

Mysterious Tower

Day 14

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

He understood. He was perfectly aware that Axel and the King had felt fully justified in lying to him about Xion's condition. Perhaps, given the circumstances, such a lie _was _justified. Yet that knowledge did little to ease his anger. Roxas was furious. He was also scared. Terrified. He had been awake for the bulk of Lea's conversation with Yen Sid and the King, so he had a fair idea of what awaited him on the floor above… yet he was unable to say what he would do, how he would react, if Xion attacked him. He would have to defend himself, he supposed, but he would never… ever again…

Lea, Yen Sid, and the King were all shouting at him, but Roxas ignored their cries. He began to climb the darkened staircase that lead to the tower's uppermost floor. Having no source of light, he had to carefully feel his way around, and sometimes over, the piles of debris that crowded close to the walls and littered the floor. It was a slow, careful climb that was made ever more difficult by the occasional crashes and screeches that grew louder as he drew closer to the exit. When he had reached the top and crawled through the ragged hole where a massive double-arched door had stood only minutes before, he found himself in a moonlit chamber that looked as though it had been caught up in a hurricane.

A cloud of plaster hung heavy in the air, giving the overturned furniture and broken stonework a hazy, undefined look. The floor was pockmarked with small craters as though something had been slammed into it over and over. Deep gashes had been hewn into the walls; some of the gashes still smoldered faintly as though some great source of heat had been brought to bear. The windows, as their brethren downstairs, were gone, letting in streamers of moonlight that only served to make it that much more difficult to see through the haze of dust and debris.

Yet Xion was nowhere to be seen.

He was dumbfounded; the one chamber comprised the entire floor of the tower. There were no closets, no cupboards, and no pieces of furniture that one could hide behind; aside from the debris, the room seemed to be empty. Roxas turned and took a step toward the stairwell, preparing to work his way back down to Lea, Yen Sid, and the King, when he felt a rush of warm breath on the back of his neck. He whirled in a panic and brought the Keyblade up to defend himself, yet there was nothing there. Something in the stairwell shifted noisily and he whirled back to face the darkened maw, panting as the beginnings of fear started to take hold. The chamber grew eerily silent.

"I see you."

Roxas let out a choked scream and swung his Keyblade toward the voice in a panic but felt only air.

"She sees you."

Roxas stumbled backward and almost lost his footing on a piece of debris. The darkness seemed to shake with laughter.

Roxas wiped the sweat out of his eyes with a shaking hand and took a tentative step toward the stairwell, Keyblade raised and ready to strike should anything attempt to stop him. Xion, he had decided, was definitely not here; that _something _had claimed the chamber for its own he had no doubt, but he had no desire to face such a thing by himself, and certainly not in such a difficult environment. Had heartless somehow penetrated the tower? Even ignoring the incredibly suspicious timing, it seemed unlikely, yet somehow, in this darkened, ruined chamber lit by naught but moonlight, he felt as though he could almost believe it.

He had only made a few steps' worth of progress, however, when something crashed into him from behind. Arms clamped around his waist.

Roxas had never been as terrified as he was in that moment.

"Xi… Xi… Xion?" he whispered into the darkness. "I-Is… Is that…?"

Warm breath tickled his ear.

"What would you do... if I said no?"

Roxas choked on his own saliva in panic and tried to win free from the arms clamped about his waist, but their grip only tightened.

"What's wrong?" mocked the voice. "She used to do this all the time. Did you not like it?"

The arms tightened further. It was becoming difficult for Roxas to breathe.

"Did it make you uncomfortable?" The grip tightened yet again, and Roxas felt a searing stab of pain lance through his chest. He tried to cry out, but found that he didn't possess the breath to do so. "Did it frighten you?" The arms tightened their grip one last time. Roxas was dimly aware of a popping sound followed by an indescribable torrent of pain ripping through his chest. He was unable to draw a breath. The arms released him and he crumpled to the floor, legs drawn up to his chest, trying in vain to breathe. His Keyblade vanished in a flash of light.

_I'm going to die._

"You're not going to die," said the voice disdainfully as though it had read his thoughts. "I just tickled your ribs a bit… though I do find it hard to believe that she was attracted to someone this weak." A cloaked and hooded figure loomed over him, a frail silhouette in the moonlight, watching him struggle to draw a breath. When he finally did, it smirked and kicked him in the ribs with all of its might. There was another pop that echoed in the cavernous room. Roxas screamed.

"Roxas! What's- hang in there partner," called a voice from the stairwell. "We're almost there! Hang on!"

The figure frowned at the darkened entrance in distaste, and then returned its gaze to Roxas, writhing on the ground in pain.

"Well, this has certainly been fun," it teased, stretching languidly like some sleek black cat, "but it seems that there are others who require my attention. Never fear, however; our dance shall resume once they have been dealt with."

"Xi… Xion… or who… whoever you a-are," managed Roxas in a hoarse whisper, "Don't… don't do this. This isn't… isn't…"

The figure smiled sadly and bent over him so that their faces were nearly touching. Impossibly blue eyes - Xion's eyes - gazed boldly into his own.

"But Roxas… Xion is dead. You killed her, remember?"

Smirking at the spasm of pain that passed over his face, Xion folded her arms and turned her attention to the stairwell.

Roxas' eyes burned. He made no attempt to halt the tears once they had started, though crying only made his chest hurt that much more. His last thoughts before he lost consciousness were of Xion.

* * *

*** Version Notes: Revision 1.2**

*** AN - More to come!**

*** All characters and locations are the property of Disney and Square Enix (lol) unless otherwise noted.**


	18. Unchained - Dissonance

Unchained: Dissonance

Mysterious Tower

Day 14

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

_Where am I?_

A magnificent domed ceiling speckled with stars slowly swam into focus as Xion opened her eyes. Groggy from sleep and aching as though she had been beaten mercilessly, she was unable to immediately determine where she was. The faintly familiar smell of dust and years would not have been out of place in some ancient library, yet a sluggish glance to each side revealed towering arched windows in place of bookshelves. With a tremendous effort that made her arms and shoulders scream with pain, Xion pushed herself into a sitting position and felt heavy bedcovers fall away from her chest. She glanced down and was surprised to find that she was wearing her old Organization robes. Bewildered, she pulled her gaze away and began to inspect her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a bedchamber of sorts, though the overlarge bed in which she lay felt curiously vulnerable; it was an island in a sea of checkered marble tiles that crept toward the walls in a dizzying spiral. There was furniture scattered around the perimeter of the room, to be sure, yet it did little to dampen the impression of overwhelming vastness; Xion felt as tiny and insignificant as an insect. She cautiously swung her legs over the side of the bed, an effort that left her panting in pain, and began to lower herself to the floor when the tiles just below her dangling feet began to hum in warning. Startled, Xion twisted and pulled her legs back onto the bed, wincing.

_*Trapped.*_

Xion sighed in relief.

_You're still here. Are you alright? _She thought in reply. The voice, after all, was her dearest friend. When Roxas had betrayed and killed her some months past, the voice had sought her out within the darkness of Sora's heart; it had befriended her, and ultimately, it had set her free. So it was that she found herself in this unknown chamber, fresh from her imprisonment.

_Free at last._

_Unchained._

_*Oh, I'm fine,* _replied the voice, *… _as is Roxas.*_

Xion looked up sharply.

_Roxas? Roxas is locked within Sora's heart. _

_*He should be, yes,* _admitted the voice, *_yet I can feel his presence. Weak. __He is just below us.*_

Xion fidgeted uncomfortably.

_*Is something wrong?*_

_No… no, but… I don't really want to see him, so can we just-_

_*You don't want to see your false friend? __You don't want to confront your murderer? __You don't want to make him suffer for the-*_

"No!" shouted Xion aloud. The voice fell silent.

"I don't… I don't know… I don't want revenge. Roxas is… Roxas was my friend, and-"

*I_ am your friend.*_

Xion offered no reply. Her mind felt cluttered. She was having difficulty sorting through her memories; some seemed to be fragmented while others had vanished altogether. She supposed that such disarray was merely a side effect of her transition from the confines of Sora's heart to the realms of light, but it was still an extremely uncomfortable sensation. Had Roxas truly betrayed her? She thought that she could see Roxas sneering at her as he drove his Keyblade into her heart, but his face warped into her own as the memory faded. She made a noncommittal noise in her throat.

*… _Do you not trust me? __After all I have done for your sake? __After I found you in the darkness? __After I offered you companionship? __After I listened to your troubles? __After I set you free?*_

Xion rubbed the side of her neck in embarrassment.

"Well… I guess, but… let's say that I do want to see Roxas. Not to… to do anything to him, just to speak with him, to ask him why he… well, you know." She gestured vaguely at the floor. "We can't even get down there to him, so-"

_*Leave that to me.*_

Xion blinked.

"What?"

_*Leave that to me.*_

Xion bit her lip uncertainly.

"What are… what are you going to do?"

Xion had the uncomfortable sensation of pressure gathering around her body.

_*Utilize your power. Your body. I have no physical form, so I must rely upon your strength.*_

"You're going to… possess me?" asked Xion warily.

_*It sounds worse than it is i__f you call it that... b__ut yes. Only for a brief time. __With your strength and my knowledge,t__his barrier is nothing. __Do I have your permission?*_

Xion said nothing.

*… _Xion?*_

"Only… only for as long it takes to… to escape this place, right?"

_*Escape? I thought you wanted to confront Roxas... b__ut very well. You may do whatever you wish __once the barrier has been broken.*_

Xion took a deep, steadying breath.

The room had fallen silent.

"Then… I agree."

_*... Foolish.*_

"What? Wait, wait no, I-"

Xion scrambled backward but found that she had nowhere to go. There was a deep _thrum_ as darkness exploded into existence within her heart, billowing outward in waves that manifested as snaking tendrils coiling about her limbs. Xion tried to scream in protest but found that she no longer had control of her body. The sensation felt vaguely familiar.

_*Gullible. __I can't believe you actually gave me permission. __I thought you were more intelligent than that.*_

Xion's arms swam out of view as the voice stretched.

_*You may call me… Noi. __Appropriate, don't you think? __I have a great many things to tell you in the coming days, bu__t for now…*_

There was a horrific crash as an unseen fist of air slammed into the floor, shattering several square meters of tile and sending up a cloud of debris. A hum of warning echoed throughout the chamber, louder and more insistent than before. More crashes followed, punching a series of jagged craters into the floor. Eventually, the humming faltered and fell silent. Almost immediately, a shimmering dome sprang up around the bed, close and tight. Both Noi and Xion cried out from the searing pain that suddenly ripped through her body, but the barrier cracked and shattered beneath a single tremendous blow from Xion's fist. She thought that her hand might have broken. Noi wrung it out, wincing.

_*See? We can work together if we try. __Things will be easier that way.*_

Xion offered no reply.

_*Well, have it your way. __I don't particularly dislike you, you know.*_

… _Then why are you doing this?_

"Why am I doing this?" asked Noi aloud as though she was dumbfounded by the question.

"Why am I doing what? Controlling your body? Because you foolishly gave me permission. And because you're too weak to do what needs to be done on your own. As to what that is… well, I'm not really sure myself. I think you would know better than I."

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and slid smoothly to the floor.

"But, well… it seems that this boy is causing you an unhealthy amount of pain at the moment, so... let's deal with that first."

_Deal-? What are you going to- and what do you mean I would know better than you? You're not a part of me, so don't act like-_

Noi snorted and then roared with laughter.

"Not… not a part of… oh man. You foolish little idiot, I _am_ you. I'm the result of all of the pain that you've held inside your heart for months on end. I'm the failsafe that awoke when that pain threatened to destroy your heart. I am your sorrow, your tears, your loneliness, you deepest, darkest fears… I am the part of you that you hate and that you're ashamed of. I am the part of you that you have never shown to anyone, because I sicken you."

Xion was silent. She felt something twist uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. As outrageous as it sounded, she suspected that Noi was telling the truth; she had… but…

_For months on end? I was only within Sora's heart for-_

"Oh, that," said Noi dismissively. "That's, well… I might have tinkered with your memories a bit. It suited my ends… which means that it suited your ends. There might be a few inconsistencies here and there, but try not to pay them any mind."

Xion felt as though she was going to be sick.

_What have you done to me?_

Noi chuckled.

"Why, only what you wanted."

She glanced distractedly at the sconces that were set into the walls at even intervals, bathing the room in a dazzlingly bright glow.

"Ah, but… we'll continue this conversation later. Let's make some noise to get your friends up here, shall we?"

Noi raised Xion's hand and snapped her fingers. There was a violent concussion to the air that sent a wall of dust racing outward in a ring. The bed split in twain as it slammed into the wall. The windows exploded outward and the sconces shattered in a hail of glassy shards, plunging the room into a hazy, moonlit darkness. Noi stumbled, recovered gracefully, and thrust a slender finger at the door to the stairway. It exploded inward, taking a sizable portion of the wall with it.

Xion was horrified.

Noi, sensing her distress, giggled.

"Well, I suppose that was a bit much… but really, do you have any idea how much power you have stored in this frail little body?"

She made a lazy swiping motion with her hand at a blank stretch of wall some ten meters away. Rubble exploded outward in a fine cloud as great gashes were hewn into the stonework. Noi clapped her hands in delight.

_You're insane._

"Am I?" teased Noi. "You're the one who hears voices in her head. But look, here comes… is that…?" She craned her neck to peer down the darkened stairwell. "Ah, that's Roxas. Let's surprise him."

_Wait, don't-_

Noi made a _shh_ing sound and darted into a pool of shadows adjacent to the doorway.

Roxas stumbled into the chamber moments later, visibly apprehensive.

_*He looks rather frightened, doesn't he?*_

_Noi, please… let's just leave, I don't want to-_

_*Liar.*_

Then they were moving. Noi silently flitted around Roxas with impossible speed, first whispering taunts in one ear and then the other. She flicked her finger at the stairwell when she tired of that, causing some of the rubble within to shift noisily. Roxas whirled toward the sound in a panic.

Xion could sense Noi's delight. It sickened her.

_Just as she said…_

_*What's that?* _Replied Noi distractedly. *_Oh well. I think it's- o__h! You know what would be perfect right about now?*_

_What are you doing?! Don't do that! That's not-_

Xion groaned as Noi tackled Roxas from behind and slung her arms around his waist.

_Seriously Noi, that's not funny. Let him go._

_*Then why am I laughing?*_

"'Xi…Xi… Xion, i-is that…?" whispered Roxas in a trembling voice.

_Let him go. _

"What would you do…" whispered Noi seductively, "if I said no?"

Roxas gave a strangled cry and tried to win free, but Noi only tightened her grip.

_Noi. Stop._

"What's the matter?" asked Noi in a tone of mock concern, "She used to do this all the time. Did you not like it?"

Xion felt her arms tighten their grip once again.

_Please. That's enough, don't…_

"Did it make you uncomfortable?"

Tighten.

_Noi, stop! You're hurting him!_

_*Of course I'm hurting him. __What do you think I'm trying to do?*_

"Did it frighten you?"

Tighten.

There was sickening _pop_ that echoed throughout the moonlit chamber.

_Roxas! Noi, what are you- I don't want this! I never wanted this!_

_*Liar~*_

Noi sighed and released Roxas; he immediately crumpled to the floor in a heap, wheezing.

_Roxas… I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry… I didn't want…_

Her eyes burned. She felt the beginning of tears pooling beneath her eyelids.

Noi wiped at her eyes in irritation as she gazed dispassionately at Roxas' vain attempts to draw a breath. Once he had finally managed to inhale, Noi kicked him in the ribs with all of her might. There was another resounding _pop._ Roxas was silent for a moment, eyes wide with shock, and then he screamed.

_Roxas! Noi, please! Stop this! I don't-… you know I don't want this! You have to! I'm not-… I'm not this kind of person! I don't hurt people like this! Especially people I care-_

She fell abruptly silent. How did she feel about Roxas?

_*... Oh? So you aren't sure after all. What a tiresome puppet. ... Well then__. I'll give you once chance __t__o sort this out your way. Don't waste it now. __But first…*_

The clangor of debris being pushed aside echoed up to them from the stairwell. Noi frowned down at Roxas.

"Well, this has certainly been fun, but… it seems that there are others who require my attention. Never fear, however; our dance shall resume once they have been dealt with."

"Xi…Xion, or who… whoever you are…" wheezed Roxas in protest, "Don't… don't do this. This isn't… this isn't…"

_Roxas... forgive me…_

Noi, however, bent over Roxas and cupped his cheek. It broke Xion's heart to see the pain in his eyes.

"But Roxas… Xion is dead. You killed her, remember?"

Xion cursed Noi. Xion screamed at Noi.

Something shifted within her heart, and she suddenly found herself standing before Roxas' sneering face as he killed her. The sudden change of locale was disorienting. However, as she stood frozen in half-remembered pain, Roxas' face changed; the sneer vanished and was replaced with an expression of shock and horror and panic and pain. Cuts and bruises faded into existence as one of his eyes became blackened; tears began to stream down his face. Then her perspective shifted, and she was gazing up at him through half-lidded eyes as he held her in his arms.

"_No! Xion! Who else will I have ice cream with?!"_

Xion gasped in a choked sob as the memory crashed over her like a bucket of icy water. She felt as though she was waking from a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. More memories followed after: eating ice cream on the clock tower with Roxas and Axel after their reunion; lying on a grassy slope in the moonlight with Roxas at her side; stumbling into Roxas and Axel's room in the early hours of the morning, sick, and crawling over to him to fall into a fitful sleep; Roxas smiling at her; Roxas laughing with her; Roxas… Roxas…

_Get out!_

Noi, facing the staircase with her arms folded and a satisfied smirk fixed on her face, flinched in surprise.

_*Now now... I said that I'd give you a chance, didn't I? Just wait your turn, please~__*_

_Out! Out! I remember- I remember everyth- why did you do that to… to…_

Noi was silent for a moment.

_*Ah... well, this is troublesome, isn't it? I don't expect you to understand, but altering your memories like that made it easier for me to do what needs to be done. My purpose, my function, is to relieve your pain, and the easiest way to do that-*_

_Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You had no right! You had no right to-"_

"If I hadn't, your heart would have been destroyed!" said Noi angrily, breaking her outward silence at last. "You would've ceased to exist! Is that really what you want?"

_I would have preferred that!_

"… So you would prefer to die, permanently, than to have the memories of someone you cared about taken from you."

_Yes!_

"Then I suppose you should be thankful that Roxas doesn't seem to feel the same."

Xion fell silent, sickened as the full ramifications of what Noi had said washed over her.

"No clever reply? No childish outburst? _That_ is why I am here. _That _is why I am doing what I'm doing right now. You don't have the slightest idea how to treat those who love you. You're selfish. You cause yourself more pain than your heart can withstand, so I have to be the one to deal with it. Everything that is happening right now is the result of your unthinking actions."

Silence settled over the room.

_Just… get out… please… I don't want to do this anymore…_

"You're pathetic."

_I know._

"You're weak."

_I know._

"You're selfish."

_I know._

"… If you persist in this, you'll die. That's not a maybe. Your heart is already in tatters. I'm doing what I can to mend it, but it's so-"

_You think that killing Roxas will mend it?! Get out! If you won't, then… then…_

She was unable to say how, but Xion managed to wrest control from Noi long enough fling her arm out to the side and summon her Keyblade. The single Thalassa shell dangling from the grip swung wildly in the moonlight.

_"_Xion. What are you doing?_"_

She grasped it with both hands and turned it so that the tip was facing her chest. Her arms shook.

_"_Xion, calm down... doing this won't solve anything, so just..._"_

She glanced up long enough to see Lea, Yen Sid, and the King standing in the mouth of the stairwell, frozen in shock. She smiled sadly.

_I'm sorry, Roxas. I never meant for things to turn out like this._

She felt a single tear winding its way down her cheek.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	19. Unchained - Resonance

Unchained: Resonance

Mysterious Tower

Day 14

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

_"Roxas, do you think... I could be a friend?"_

His vision clouded with pain, Roxas craned his neck upward; Xion's slender figure loomed over him with Keyblade in hand. For one sickening moment, Roxas feared that she meant to plunge it into his heart; his thoughts were hazy and jumbled, but the thought of Xion being the one to take his life... perhaps it was just. After all, he had...

"Xion. What are you doing? ... Calm down. This won't solve anything, so just-"

Roxas fought valiantly to marshal his thoughts. Pain such as he had never suspected could exist was coiled tightly about his heart; even the simple task of focusing on the scene playing out before him required a tremendous amount of effort. Xion's silhouette wavered unsteadily as she turned the Keyblade so that the point was leveled at her own heart. Panic ignited within Roxas' thoughts, burning away the haze of pain and filling him with enough drive to rise unsteadily to his feet.

His chest screamed in pain.

His heart screamed in pain.

"Xi-Xion!" he croaked. don't... wait, please..."

He stumbled and almost lost his footing as Xion's head snapped toward the sound of his voice, her eyes alight with confusion and panic. He saw Lea, Yen Sid, and the King rushing toward her out of his peripheral vision. Time seemed to be moving impossibly slowly.

"Xion, stop!" he shouted again, hoarsely. "I don't know what's going on, but- but put your Keyblade down and we can- we can… please…"

Xion smiled sadly through her tears. She raised the Keyblade, preparing to plunge it into her heart.

"I'm sorry, Roxas," she said quietly. "I never wanted things to turn out like this. If nothing else, please believe that."

Her arms trembled.

_"This sunset... feels special. Don't you guys think so?"_

Roxas lunged for Xion in desperation, though he knew that he would never reach her in time.

Whether due to the mercy of some unknown god, or perhaps simply because she was unable to bring herself to follow through with an act so horrible, Xion's Keyblade suddenly winked out of existence with a sorrowful chime. Xion's eyes widened in surprise. That brief moment of confusion was enough for Roxas to close the rest of the distance between them and tackle Xion bodily to the floor. The pain of the impact reduced his vision to a minuscule dot in a sea of darkness. He thought that he was going to be sick. Xion twisted and writhed beneath him, furious at the interference. Lea and the others moved to help, but Roxas shook his head stubbornly and grabbed at her shoulders to still her movements. They wrestled with each other on the floor for some time; she shouted at him, cursed at him, and finally pleaded with him, crying that destroying her heart was the only way for him to live. Her arguments and her actions grew ever wilder and more desperate until Roxas, hating himself, slapped her across the face with all of his might.

A shocked stillness settled over the room.

Roxas panted with pain.

Xion panted with pain.

"You… you hit me," she whispered, eyes wide in disbelief. "You actually…"

"Yeah…" wheezed Roxas. "Yeah, I did. D'you… d'you want me to say sorry? 'Cause right now, I don't th-… think that's gonna happen."

Xion stared at him for a moment, and then raised a tentative hand to his chest. He flinched, but didn't move.

"… I'm sorry," she said after a moment, and Roxas knew that she meant it. "She hurt you… I told her not to, that I didn't want… that I didn't want that sort of… but she insisted and I couldn't-"

"Xi-Xion. Stop. Stop. Just… wait." Eyes pressed shut against the pain ripping through his chest, Roxas squeezed her shoulders. "If I… If I let you go, you won't try… won't try to… you won't do anything, right?"

Xion averted her gaze in shame.

"… No."

After considering her for a moment through one half-opened eye, Roxas released her and flopped backward onto the floor in exhaustion. He heard her do the same.

"… Idiot," he said after a moment. "What were you thinking?"

Xion offered no reply.

Roxas sighed in frustration. His nerves were shot.

"Let try a different question then. Who is this 'she' you were talking about?"

"I'm not really sure… how to answer that," replied Xion wearily. "But I guess the best way to describe her is… well, an evil twin sounds sort of ridiculous in this situation, but I suppose that's what she really is."

"An evil twin," repeated Roxas flatly. "If that's the best-"

Yen Sid cleared his throat importantly.

"Xion is not entirely incorrect," he announced, "though... 'twin' is not the term I would have chosen for this other being." He frowned at Xion. "Is that correct?"

Xion's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she craned her neck to look upward at Yen Sid. "It is, but... how...?"

"I am afraid that I know a great deal about puppets and the manner of their creation," said Yen Sid, sighing heavily. "I apologize, of course, if the term offends you, but its usage is imperative to understanding what has transpired here tonight. I will leave the finer details unspoken, but this much, at least, must be known: as beings crafted of memories and dreams, puppets are dangerously inconstant by nature; it is a flaw that places great strain upon their hearts. To counter this potential weakness, creatures known as Marionettes are created alongside each puppet to serve as a manner of barrier against self-wrought destruction. If a puppet's heart is in immediate danger of being destroyed, the Marionette awakens and takes up the puppet's strings until the damage is repaired."

A heavy silenced had settled over the room. Roxas felt a sick, churning feeling twisting within his gut.

"The Keyblade War..." continued Yen Sid wearily, "was a terrible time. Many horrible weapons were created in the pursuit of power... though, of course," he added with a sad smile directed at Xion, "we know that such pursuits also gave birth to wonderful, irreplaceable people. Everything has its balance in the end."

"But if you knew what was happening, why didn't you say anything?" asked Xion pointedly. "You could've prevented this whole thing."

"… I saw no need. I hoped that you would prove strong enough to master your pain once you had been reunited with Roxas. Thought I must admit, I placed heavy expectations upon Roxas as well."

"Me?" asked Roxas in bewilderment.

"You," confirmed Yen Sid. "When you first came face to face with Xion within this very tower, you displayed a level of understanding and compassion that I had not expected. The manner in which you so readily accepted her into your confidence gave me reason to believe that, over time, you would be able to ease her pain and mend her heart. However…" He redirected his gaze to Xion. "… It seems that Xion was not strong enough. So that pain continued to grow and fester until it became a threat to her heart; at that point, it seems, this other being awoke and began to take matters into its own hands."

"So, assuming that all of that's true," said Xion, "why can't I hear or sense her now? She seems to be gone."

Yen Sid smiled sadly. In that moment, he seemed to Roxas to look very old and impossibly weary, as though the weight of his many years had settled upon his shoulders all at once.

"Your Marionette will never truly leave you," said Yen Sid gently. "She is as much a part of you as your arms or your heart. If you are truly unable to sense her presence, then it is likely that she has fallen back into slumber. As to why that would be the case…"

He smiled enigmatically and turned to leave.

"Come, Lea. Your Majesty. Let us leave these two alone for a time. I suspect that the danger has passed... and the two of them have much to discuss."

Lea, having been remarkably quiet up until this point, folded his arms and glared at Yen Sid in defiance.

"If you think for one second that after all that's happened-"

"That was not a request," growled Yen Sid ominously. "I will reduce you to a smouldering pile of ash and sweep you from the room if I must, but you will _not _jeopardize the resolution of this situation by acting the overbearing mother hen."

"… Best do as he says, Lea," agreed the King. "There's nothing more we can do here."

Lea huffed in irritation and shoved his way past the both of them and into the staircase. Yen Sid and the King watched his retreating back warily for a moment before following.

And then Roxas was alone with Xion.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	20. Ties That Bind

Ties that Bind

Mysterious Tower

Day 14

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Roxas heard a soft rustling from somewhere near his feet after his friends' footsteps had faded into the distance. Too exhausted to sit up, he continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. After a moment, he felt a light pressure on his legs and Xion's face swam into view above his own; her eyes were red and puffy, as was her cheek where Roxas had struck her. The sight made him feel absurdly guilty. Hesitantly, he reached upward and brushed his thumb across the reddened, swollen skin in apology. He had no doubt that she would bear a magnificent bruise.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have done that."

Xion smiled wearily and placed a hand over his own, holding it against her cheek.

"No… you did what you had to," she said gently. "I wasn't… I don't know. I wasn't myself. I was convinced that… well… that I was about to lose you. I did the only thing I could think of to prevent that, but… now that I think back on it, it was kind of silly, wasn't it?"

"It was," agreed Roxas weakly. "You scared the daylights out of me. I thought… I thought that I was about to lose my best friend… again." His eyes had begun to burn. He wiped at them feebly. "I… I couldn't…" He trailed off into silence, unable to continue. He became aware that he was crying only when Xion reached up and tenderly brushed the tears from his cheek.

"You've… remembered?" she asked quietly.

Roxas, unwilling to test his voice, nodded against her hand.

Xion smiled uncertainly.

"Would you… would you like to hit me again?"

Roxas shook his head. His lip trembled.

Xion smiled sadly and pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly. Roxas buried his face in her shoulder. He suddenly felt as though all of the pain and loneliness he had been forced to endure since Xion's untimely death had finally reached the point of overflowing; as soon as he felt the warmth of her arms about him, his last vestige of restraint crumbled and he found himself sobbing unashamedly into her robes.

"Wh… where did you _go?_" he managed between choked sobs. "Why did you just _leave_ like that? I was l-l-lonely without you, idiot. I didn't… there were so m-many things I wanted to tell that I didn't… that I never…"

Xion tenderly ran her fingers through Roxas' hair, silent.

They sat embracing on the floor for a long time, Roxas' occasional cough or sniffle the only sound in the otherwise silent room.

"… I'm sorry," said Xion quietly when Roxas seemed to have exhausted his tears. "I acted as I did because I thought that having you destroy me was the only way to prevent your heart from being absorbed into my own. That was the last thing I wanted. After that, with your memories… I knew that they would fade with time, so I just… accelerated the process. I didn't want you to have to live with pain of-"

"… didn't work," murmured Roxas into her shoulder.

Xion blinked and looked down at the top of his head.

"Didn't…?"

"I don't… I don't know what happened or… what went wrong," said Roxas, sitting upright and wiping at his eyes, "but… I don't think that I ever truly forgot about you completely. I would have… dreams, I guess. I recognize them now as fragments of the memories from the time we spent together before… you know… so I don't think whatever you did worked… at least not completely."

He sniffled and wiped at his eyes again.

"Actually… didn't… didn't Yen Sid say something about that?"

"Yen Sid?" replied Xion sourly. "I wouldn't be surprised at this point. When was this?"

"I dunno… maybe it… oh, it was right after we met each other for the first time after waking up. He had this long-winded monologue about the memory situation, I think. And then…"

"'Ties of the heart are not easily severed,'" supplied Xion thoughtfully. "Makes it sound like he knew about that as well…"

Roxas made a noncommittal noise in his throat.

"Dunno… but… _this_ is real, right? Not another one of those dreams?" He reached out and squeezed Xion's shoulders as if to affirm her existence. "I'm not… I'm not going to wake up and find that you're still-"

"Roxas," interrupted Xion gently. "I'm real. I'm not going anywhere." She leaned forward and slipped her arms around Roxas' neck. "… I promise."

They stared into each other's eyes in silence.

"And that's why..." she continued after a time, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Roxas… for everything I've done to you. I acted under the pretense of selflessness, but I was really… really being selfish. I had no right to take your m-memories from you. I realize that now." She looked up at him tremulously. "Can you… can you forgive me? If not, I understand… I'll just…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Roxas considered her, unsmiling.

"No."

Xion flinched as though he had struck her.

"No… because that would mean admitting that you acted deliberately to hurt me. That's silly. I agree that some of your decisions have been… questionable, but I don't believe for one second that you would ever knowingly do anything that would bring me pain. You acted unknowingly and with good intentions; that makes what you did a mistake. Did it hurt? Yes. It hurt a lot. Tremendously. But, like I said back at the clock tower…"

Roxas reached up to brush the tears from Xion's cheeks.

"… I think it's alright if friends hurt each other sometimes."

Xion looked into his eyes for the briefest of moments, lip trembling, and then she collapsed against him with a wail of release, sobbing incoherently. Roxas smiled and stroked her hair as he held her, gently rocking side to side. He felt as though he could almost see all of her pain and heartache being carried away by her tears as she cried into his chest; it was a release, he knew, that she had desperately needed.

Roxas couldn't have said how long they had sat there; he thought, perhaps, that he might have begun to doze off, for he was suddenly aware that Xion, having cried herself into exhaustion, was now sleeping peacefully, curled up against his chest. The sight filled his heart with an inexpressible feeling of warmth and contentment.

"Xion…" he said quietly. She mumbled a sleepy complaint and nuzzled closer against him.

Roxas smiled and gathered her up into his arms.

They were halfway down the ruined staircase, now brightly lit by hovering plumes of sky-blue flame that had undoubtedly been conjured by Yen Sid, when Xion groaned and opened her eyes. Roxas glanced down at her, grinning.

"Morning. Sleep well?"

Xion smiled sleepily. "Of course. But… waking up was the best part."

"Hm? Why's that?"

When she didn't reply, Roxas looked down and found her gazing up at him, smiling tremulously.

"Because I know. I know, when you look at me like that… that you remember me," she said simply. "And it makes me feel complete. Whole."

"So does that mean," teased Roxas, "that you'll never try to mess with said memories again? Like if you say something embarrassing and you want to erase-"

Xion affected a scowl and feebly punched his chest.

"No, idiot… it means… well….… it means that we'll have to… make more."

She blushed furiously.

"… We will," agreed Roxas, smiling to himself. "I promise."

* * *

Unchained: End

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	21. The Beginning

The Beginning

Mysterious Tower

Day 16

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Roxas awoke to find Xion's face hovering inches above his own, eyes alight with mischief. He blinked groggily and tried to push her away with a hand pressed against her forehead. When his efforts yielded a giggle and naught else, he exhaled irritably and rolled onto his side. He felt the mattress compress slightly, and then his bedcovers were torn from his grasp. Cold air rushed into the void and sent goose bumps racing up his bare back. He flinched and sat up in an undignified rush with his arms held over his face, feeling extremely vulnerable and more than a little embarrassed. He could feel a flush creeping up his neck.

"Oh gods," drawled a male voice, "you still wear bear cub pattern. Wonder if I should tell Xion..."

Roxas peeked out from between his arms and saw Lea standing at the foot of his bed fully clothed and freshly washed. Roxas' bedcovers were nowhere to be seen; nor, it seemed, was Xion. Relieved, Roxas let his arms fall away and flopped lazily onto his back.

"Hey, none of that," said Lea. "Get up and go wash. Yen Sid and the King have something they want to speak to us about before we leave."

Roxas groaned in protest, but sat up all the same. He yawned, stretching, and rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

"See? Not that hard after all," said Axel, stifling a yawn of his own. "If you hurry, I won't tell Xion about your-"

"She already knows," said Roxas distractedly, glancing down at the splotch of swollen purplish-red skin covering his ribs where Xion had kicked him. He poked at it tenderly and winced when shards of pain stabbed at him in warning. When Lea didn't reply, Roxas looked up and found him standing frozen with mouth firmly shut. His skin seemed unnaturally pale.

Roxas blinked innocently.

"Axel? Something wrong?"

Lea slapped a shaking hand to his forehead and sat down in the floor with a muffled thump.

"I've failed them," he said to no one in particular. "These kids were under my care and I… oh gods, what have I done? There's so much that they don't know and it's my responsibility to… but if they've already…"

Lea looked up at Roxas, wary. Roxas tilted his head.

"Er… Roxas… when you say that Xion already knows about your… ah… well… what did you mean by that? Did you really just mean that you've-"

"She's seen them."

Lea stared at Roxas, his face pained

"Man oh man… what do I do with this?" he mumbled to himself. "What'll I do if Xion ends up… but can she even…?" Still slumped against the wall, Lea wiped a hand across his forehead. Roxas got the distinct impression that, for whatever the reason, he was on the verge of panic. "So I'll have to buy… then I'll have to explain how to use… oh gods…"

"Axel? Axel, are you crying?"

Lea wiped at his eyes.

"No…" he replied. "Just lamenting how much more difficult my job just became." He looked at Roxas with what seemed to be an odd mixture of pride and disapproval. "Not… not that it's really any of my business, but… how many times…?"

"Just once," said Roxas quickly. He felt his cheeks beginning to redden and hastily redirected his gaze to the ceiling. "It, um… happened at the inn. She was in our room and you had left to go talk to the manager or whatever, and then-"

"While she was sick," said Lea in a thin, strained voice. "While she was… Roxas… man oh man." He lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Roxas, beginning to lose interest in the conversation, slid to the floor and began to rummage through his bag for something to wear to the bath.

"… I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this," he said sullenly after collecting a handful of clothing. "It was embarrassing, but it was an accident. I just kind of… it was bad timing on both our parts."

Lea stared up at him incredulously.

"Bad… Roxas, that kind of thing doesn't… happen by accident. Well, it can… I suppose, but this thing with timing… it's generally consensual, so I don't really see how you can-"

"What are you talking about?" interrupted Roxas, pulling a loose T-shirt over his head. "Of course it was an accident. She just looked over at the wrong time, but I assumed that she was… so it was partially my fault and-"

"Rox-Roxas, wait. What are you talking about?"

They stared at each other.

"Xion, ah… well, Xion kind of accidentally saw my boxers when she was in our room. I thought she was asleep, so I thought it'd be a good time to change and-"

"Say that sooner, will ya?" interjected Lea loudly. He flopped back against the wall. "Gods, do you have any idea how close I just came to having heart failure? And then the thought of having the same conversation with Xion…" He reached up to massage his temples. "I just lost about ten years from my life thanks to you."

"Um… Nobodies don't-"

"Not the point, I'm no longer a Nobody, and… just… go, Roxas. Go get cleaned up and head down to the old man's study when you're done. I'll go ahead and take your stuff down there."

Roxas blinked innocently.

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

_Roxas remembers me._

Xion held the thought and turned it ever so gently in her mind. It filled her heart with a feeling of elation that she had never hoped to experience.

_Roxas remembers me… and he forgave me._

The image of Roxas' bloody, bruised, tear-streaked face looming above her own, eyes bright with shock and panic, was still burned firmly into her memories. It was something, Xion feared, that she would never forget, yet she found that it bore less pain into her heart than it had in the past; she had received the happy ending that she had longer for so desperately, and Roxas, well…

"I think I preferred him when he was a zombie."

Xion drifted out of her reverie and looked up. Lea had shouldered open the door to the study and was making his way toward her, a bulging checkered dufflebag slung beneath one arm. His own pack, black with crimson swirls, was draped over the other. He glanced up at Xion and grinned good-naturedly.

"No, don't get up. I've got it."

He dropped Roxas' bag unceremoniously to the floor in front of the table upon which Xion sat, feet dangling, and carefully laid his own beside it. Xion blinked at Lea and tilted her head. Lea's smile faltered and became, Xion thought, rather strained.

"Xi… ah man, sorry, you looked just like Roxas for a second."

Xion frowned innocently.

"Is that a problem, Axel?"

Lea waved a hand dismissively.

"Not really, no. I just… the two of you," he muttered distractedly. He turned his head this way and that, looking for a place to sit. Xion patted the edge of the table beside her.

"You could come up here if you like, Axel. It kind of reminds me of the clock tower, you know?" She swung her feet in demonstration.

Lea waved the offer away.

"Nah, my feet would actually touch the floor, so I'd better not. I'm not sure that the old man would like us sitting on that table either. It's probably as old as he is and there's no telling what kind of enchantments and stuff he's put on it. Or traps. Seems like the kind of thing he'd do." He instead settled for a plump, winged armchair near the door; he dragged it over to the table and dropped into it with a muffled thump.

"This'll do. Our little bear cub shouldn't be much longer; he was almost done in the bath by the time I went back to my room to get my stuff, so…"

Xion blinked in confusion.

"Little...? Do you… mean Roxas, or…?"

Lea, now gazing idly at the ceiling with his hands crossed behind his head, made a noise of confirmation in his throat.

"Yeah, who else d'you think I'd be talking about?"

_Little bear... cub? What's that about? Is that a nickname he's come up with for Roxas?_

Xion eyed Lea doubtfully.

"So… when did we start calling Roxas our little bear cub, and why?"

Lea rolled his eyes at the stars painted overhead.

"You know why. He just told me about the accident you two had back at the inn, so it seemed appropriate."

_Accident? What accident?_

Xion felt a flush beginning to creep its way up her neck.

_Roxas… you didn't…_

"… Axel," said Xion uncertainly, "I don't… I really don't know what you're talking about. Nothing… there were no accidents of any kind at the inn… and definitely not anything involving bears."

Lea pulled his gaze away from the ceiling with a sudden, sharp movement. Xion was alarmed to see a grin rapidly spreading across his face.

"Axel?"

"No accidents huh? Nothing at all?"

Xion shook her head.

"And definitely nothing involving bears?"

Xion shook her head once again.

"That's interesting." Lea winked at her. "Well, I have something to tell you later… maybe. It'll depend on Roxas, but… ah, speaking of."

Xion followed Lea's gaze as he turned his head and saw Roxas standing uncertainly in the doorway. Roxas smiled briefly at Xion and then returned his gaze to Lea, wary. Lea, by contrast, was looking at Roxas in a manner not entirely dissimilar to a wolf considering its prey. Roxas swallowed and looked back to Xion.

"Come on in, little bear cub," said Lea slyly, his gaze locked firmly upon Roxas. Roxas' gaze darted to Xion in mild panic, and then returned to Lea, who tilted his head and blinked innocently. "Something wrong, Roxas? There's another chair in here somewhere. Gotta be. This tower is nothing but chairs and bookshelves and dust."

Continuing to gaze warily at Lea, Roxas entered the room and made his way over to the table upon which Xion sat. He hopped up beside her in silence, visibly uncomfortable.

Xion frowned up at the beads of sweat that dotted Roxas' cheek. Concerned, she gently nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Roxas? What's wrong?"

Roxas blinked and looked over at her.

"Huh? Ah, nothing… nothing important." He scratched at his cheek uncomfortably. "Anyway, how are you feeling? Better than last night?" Xion's brow twitched in suspicion, but she let the abrupt change of topic stand.

"Yeah… yeah, loads better," she replied hesitantly. "I feel like that was the best I've slept in ages. It was… odd, having everything I'd been worrying about for the past several months just be…" she gestured vaguely, "gone, all of a sudden. I liked it. It makes me feel like things are slowly changing back to the way they used to be."

Roxas smiled knowingly.

"Well… yeah. Yeah, I think they are too." He looked at Lea. "Don't you think so, Axel?"

Before Lea could reply, the door to the study swung open with a groan of protest and Yen Sid ducked through it, followed by the King. Xion thought that they both looked troubled. Yen Sid, his gaze immediately settling upon Roxas and Xion, scowled and snapped his fingers. Xion felt the table shudder beneath her. She heeded the warning and slid to her feet just before the ancient oak sprang to life and bucked violently, throwing Roxas unceremoniously to the floor. Lea guffawed.

Yen Sid swept past Roxas with nary a glance and settled himself in his throne; the King moved up to stand beside the chair in which Lea was lounging. Xion, doing her utmost to suppress a grin, offered a hand to Roxas; he accepted it and climbed to his feet, wincing.

"I presume that we are all adequately refreshed after the night's activities," began Yen Sid without preamble, "and that the three of you are ready to resume your journey. While this matter concerning hearts and memories was unquestionably of extreme importance whilst it sat unresolved and festering, we must now turn our attention to a danger and a concern far greater while it still lies within our power. I am speaking, of course, of Sora."

The King cleared his throat.

"It might be easier for them to understand if I explain it," he said apologetically. Yen Sid considered this in silence, and then nodded his consent.

"Where to begin..." muttered the King, turning slightly so that he could face Roxas, Xion, and Lea at the same time. "Here's how things stand. The short version is that we don't know where Sora is or what kind of condition he's currently in. Kairi and Riku are missing as well. We still don't know exactly what happened when you two were kicked out of Sora's heart, nor do we know why you've regained your old bodies. Yen Sid seems to think that the expulsion was triggered by this other being's awakening. I don't see any reason to believe otherwise, so I agree with him. I do have a few theories about why you two regained your old bodies, but they're just theories for now; I don't want to say anything until I know more. No reason to give you guys more to worry about than you need." He glanced at Yen Sid, who nodded and cleared his throat noisily.

"And so your primary objective," the sorcerer said, "should be to locate Sora. As I indicated previously, this matter with your memories was little more than a detour. It was a necessary detour, to be sure, yet it is time that we get back on course." He settled his gaze upon Lea. "You are certain that Sora was not present on the islands?"

Lea shook his head.

"Nah, we didn't see him, and we combed that place over. We were actually just about to head back here anyway right before these two..." he gestured vaguely.

The King frowned thoughtfully.

"Is it possible… do you think that Sora might've somehow ended up on some other world? I don't know why that'd be the case, but there is precedent for that sort of thing."

"… Yes," mused Yen Sid tentatively, "now that I think on it… though that situation was exceptional; I sincerely doubt that the circumstances could be easily replicated."

The King considered that for a moment, and then waved his hand dismissively.

"Welp, be that as it may. It won't be efficient at all, but the best way to tackle this might be for you guys to take a look around all of the nearby worlds and find out if anyone's seen Sora, Kairi, or Riku. I know that sounds tedious, but finding Sora is extremely important; Yen Sid and I will be looking into what happens once Sora has been located, so we'll generally be here at the tower if you need us. The three of you can use corridors of darkness to travel between worlds, right? That'll save you a lot of time."

"But take great care," added Yen Sid, "that you do not put yourselves in unnecessary danger. The more quickly Sora is located, the easier this situation will be to resolved, but your own safety is your first priority. Do not do anything overtly reckless."

Lea, having absorbed everything in relative silence, made a show of sighing resignedly.

"Don't worry, I'll keep these two safe... and we _will_ find Sora. He couldn't have just vanished."

_And what happens when we do? _Thought Xion uncertainly.

Roxas glanced at her uncomfortably; he seemed to be harboring a similar worry.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**

**AN (8/22/2015): **Cleaned Miscommunication and War Room. Combined them into a single chapter.


	22. From the Ashes - I

From the Ashes - I

Deep Jungle

Day 16

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Roxas, breathing heavily, brushed a fall of sweat-sodden hair away from his eyes. His fingers came away wet; he wiped them on the back of his shorts in disgust. No sooner had he accomplished that than he stumbled over some unseen root hidden by the undergrowth. He saw Lea's hand dart toward him from somewhere to his left, but it was far too late; Roxas tumbled face-first into a humus of dirt, twigs, and half-rotted leaves. Lea and Xion stumbled to a halt on either side of him.

Roxas pushed himself onto his hands and knees and spat a glob of some unidentified debris onto the forest floor. He wiped his mouth with a shaking hand.

"I think… I hate the jungle," he said evenly.

Lea made a noise of assent as he and Xion each put a hand beneath Roxas' arms and helped him to his feet. No sooner had he been righted than Xion stumbled backward, presumably over the same root that had felled Roxas, and grabbed at the back of Roxas' shirt in panic; Roxas staggered backward, stepped in a hole hidden beneath a pile of leaves, and they both crashed to the ground in a tangled heap. Lea, for once too exhausted to make any jokes, dropped to the forest floor beside them in defeat.

"I give up," said Roxas wearily, deciding that putting forth the effort to disentangle himself from Xion would have required more of an investment than he was presently willing to make. "It's almost completely dark, so… let's stop here for the night… please…"

Xion pushed at Roxas' shoulder feebly.

"Roxas… get off. You're sweaty… and you really stink."

"So do you," Roxas pointed out sourly, though he pushed himself into a sitting position and scooted away from her all the same. Xion sat up and rubbed her chin where the back of Roxas' head had slammed into when they had fallen.

"And what is your head made out of?"

Roxas grunted an apology and flopped onto his back in exhaustion; he had lost count of the number of times the three of them had tripped over some debris or stepped in an unseen hole and fallen to the ground since they had arrived in the world only hours before. They were all dirty, bruised, aching, and exhausted; their first foray into the jungle had been firmly rebuffed.

"Y'know, I got the impression that Sora didn't have anywhere near this much trouble," said Lea idly. Roxas and Xion glanced over and found him slumped against a craggy boulder dotted with lichen, legs crossed and hands folded behind his head. "'course, there were paths back then. I haven't seen the first trail since we landed; it's like the whole world is new, untouched."

"Maybe… we just came out in the wrong place," offered Xion uncertainly. "That happens sometimes, right?"

"It does," admitted Lea, "but still… you said that you were thinking of that camp or whatever when you opened the Corridor, right Roxas?"

"I was," said Roxas, continuing to gaze up at the stars peeking through the canopy overheard. "But I only know about it from Sora's memories, and he might've misremembered it or something."

"Trying to use Corridors with something other than one of our own memories acting as an anchor is kinda dodgy anyway," added Lea, "so I guess we should be thankful that it even got us here."

"Thankful," said Roxas dryly. "Sure."

"Well, compared to the alternatives…" began Lea.

Xion left them to their banter and shuffled over to their packs where they had dropped them. A moment's rummaging produced a small bundle of tightly-wrapped sandwiches that Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had prepared for their journey; they were plain, but the more filling food required cooking over an open fire, which they didn't have. Axel could always start one, she supposed, but she was unsure of how such a thing would pan out in the middle of a jungle. Xion frowned at the sandwiches in resignation.

"Hey Xion, see if you can find some of the meat," called Lea from somewhere behind her. "The little thin pieces, not the big ones. Think I'm gonna start a fire, so we can cook them on that."

Xion looked over her shoulder; she was just barely able to discern Lea's silhouette in the semi-darkness. She was about to voice her concerns regarding the kindling of a fire while surrounded by nothing but trees when a small bulb of flame winked into being between them, bathing the clearing in a dim orange light. The flame spun and tumbled, unsupported, as Lea climbed to his feet and began to gather likely-looking rocks to use in a fire pit. "Don't want to risk anything more," he said distractedly, "so if we want a real fire we'll need to build a pit, or…" He nudged Roxas with his toe when his search brought him within proximity, and Roxas sat up, grumbling. He reluctantly joined Lea in his search, and moments later a fire was crackling merrily between them, bathing their faces in a ruddy glow. Xion produced a compact cooking spit from their bags ("how much did those three manage to stuff in there?" asked Roxas), and then there was nothing to do but stare into the flames as the meat slowly browned.

Xion, regretting her earlier terseness, scooted around the fire to sit next to Roxas. He smiled at her uncertainly.

"Look," she began quietly, "about earlier…"

She faltered, unsure of how best to phrase her apology. Her gaze moved restlessly over Roxas' face as she tried to think of what to say, settling first upon his eyes and the dancing flames reflected there, and then sliding to his cheekbones, visible only by the faint shadow they cast in the flickering firelight.

"…It's fine," said Roxas hesitantly. "I didn't really… it didn't really bother me. You worry too much."

Xion found herself watching the pulse in the hollow of his neck where his shirt, soaked with sweat, hung away from his chest.

"Well…" she said absently, "that's… that's good. So don't feel like you have to…" She trailed off into silence. Roxas, frowning bemusedly, reached over and flicked her forehead. She let out a yelp of surprise and raised an injured gaze to his eyes, wincing.

"Lighten up. You're acting weird. I said it was fine, didn't I?"

Xion rubbed her forehead sourly, her cheeks reddening. Roxas held her gaze for a moment longer, smiling enigmatically, and then turned back to the fire.

Though none of them could have said when such a thing appeared, they were suddenly aware of a hazy figure standing at the edge of the clearing; the firelight cast deep shadows across its robes, black on black. Its edges appeared oddly blurred. Roxas, tensing, began to rise to his feet. Lea quietly told him to sit down.

"Who… are you?" asked Xion timidly.

The figure stared silently at the fire from beneath the folds of its hood.

When it stepped purposefully into the clearing, Roxas, Xion, and Lea all came to their feet in a rush. Keyblades winked into existence in a flurry of light. The figure halted.

"What do you want?" asked Lea evenly. The figure reluctantly pulled its gaze away from the flames and redirected its attention to Lea. It tilted its head and held its hand out to its side as if to summon a Keyblade. It opened and closed a gloved hand experimentally, yet nothing happened. The figure lowered its arm and, seeming to lose interest, returned its gaze to the fire. Lea blinked in bewilderment.

"Can't you speak?" blurted Roxas. "If you can… what's your name?"

The figure turned its head to look at him. It gazed at him, silent, for a time, and then it reached up to lower its hood.

Roxas felt something twist within his stomach when the firelight spilled across the figure's face. Xion gasped, clutching at Roxas' arm. Lea swore loudly.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	23. From the Ashes - II

From the Ashes - II

Deep Jungle

Day 16

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

A pall of shock had fallen over the campsite when the cloaked figure had revealed its face. Roxas, always impulsive, always the first to act, had placed himself in front of Xion, screening her from view. His Keyblade sent shards of firelight racing across the treetops as he leveled it at the figure in silent warning.

Heterochromatic eyes gleamed blue and amber as the figure tilted its head in confusion.

"… That's not him," said Roxas quietly.

"But… then… who is it?" Xion's voice wavered uncertainly. "What is it?"

Roxas had no answer.

Appearing once again to lose interest, the figure turned back to the fire.

Deciding that it would be best to put words to the question that was foremost in all of their minds, Roxas cleared his throat. The figure ignored him.

"Why do you… look like Sora?"

The figure continued to gaze silently at the fire. Roxas, uncertain that it had heard him, began to repeat the question; before he had finished, however, the figure spoke. Its voice was airy and feeble; it wasn't the voice of something malicious, Roxas supposed, but nor was it quite human. The best word he could think of to describe such a thing was 'hollow.' He felt a sudden stab of pity.

"Not… light," said the figure weakly without removing its gaze from the fire. "Cold… lonely in the darkness." Roxas felt Xion fidget uncomfortably against his back. "Sora… yes, once. Still. Heart broken, shattered, lost." The figure turned its gaze upon Roxas. Tufts of its hair, he realized, so similar to Sora's own, were beginning to loosen their hold on its scalp. Its skin, roughly the same coloring as Sora's, had been rent with cracks and fissures that glistened wetly in the firelight. The feeling of pity intensified. "Pieces. Many pieces. Six pieces. Some warm. Others cold. I… am warm. But cold. So very… very cold."

Roxas, though still wary, dismissed his Keyblade. It vanished in a plume of light. Lea, visible on the far side of the fire, did the same. Xion didn't move.

"Sora…" breathed the figure, "is wounded. His heart…. heart could not suffer darkness. Such darkness. Fragmented feelings, emotions, memories… wounded, yet not destroyed. We remain. Embers of the fire that once was."

Roxas' head was pounding. He had been well past the point of exhaustion when the figure had made its appearance, and this…

"Assuming that what you're saying is true," said Roxas evenly, "what do you want us to do? How would we go about saving Sora, assuming something like that's even possible at this point?"

The figure smiled sadly.

"Destroy… me."

Roxas blinked, uncertain that he had heard correctly.

"Destroy you?"

The figure nodded solemnly.

"Destroy me… and the others. Return… we will return to Sora when our tether to the realms of light… is severed. Some will fight. I… will not. I am cold. Lonely. I wish to return to the warmth of Sora's heart."

Silence settled over the campsite following this proclamation. Roxas, unsure of how respond, scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. He felt a slight tug on his arm, and then Xion was whispering in his ear.

_"I believe him," _she said quietly. _"The circumstances are different, but… I know exactly how it… how he feels. If there's no other way, then…"_

Roxas swallowed uncomfortably.

_"… Do you… do you want me to do it?"_

"No," said Roxas firmly. "Of course I don't. I… just…" He looked back to the figure. "This… this is the only way, right? To help Sora?" The figure nodded that it was so. "And it… will we…"

"Should your mission succeed…" breathed the figure, "we will not meet again. You will, perhaps… see my influence in Sora's actions and emotions, yet… I am nothing more than a fragment. It is only due to the overwhelming… power of Sora's heart that I have been granted this feeble imitation of life. I am but an ember, nothing more. You may think of me as the ember of Sora's loneliness, if that eases the burden of that which I ask of you."

Roxas considered the figure in silence. He felt something twist uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach as he recalled his Keyblade. The figure smiled at the slashes of firelight that the silvery blade threw across its face. It was crying, Roxas realized; tears were streaming silently down cracked, rotting cheeks and disintegrating into glimmers of light before they could hit the ground. His resolution wavered.

"This… is the only way," said the figure soothingly, sensing his hesitation. "It will help Sora, and it will… it will be a mercy… to me as well." The figure knelt before Roxas and lowered its head, exposing its neck. Here too the flesh was well into the process of decay; a section as wide as Roxas' hand sloughed off even as he looked on, disquieted.

"Why… why do you look like that?" he asked after a moment.

The figure didn't look up.

"Because… this is how Sora feels when he is alone. He needs… friends to surround himself with. Love, warmth, laughter, companionship… Sora craves these things. They are as essential to the well-being of his heart as is air to his lungs. Alone… he feels as though he is rotting from within. It is… torment."

Roxas bit his lip. He raised his Keyblade uncertainly.

An absolute stillness had settled over the camp. Lea and Xion watched him in silence.

"… Thank you," said the figure tremulously, "… for sending me home."

Roxas lowered his Keyblade.

"I… I can't," he said in a dead voice. "I can't do this. It's not…"

He saw Xion kneeling on the ground before him, baring her neck so that he might take her life.

"I'm sorry. I…"

The figure burst into flame. Roxas looked past the fire, startled, and saw Lea standing with arm outstretched. His face was impassive.

"… Warm," breathed the figure, seemingly indifferent to any pain given by the flames. "So… so warm. Thank you… flame-bearer. Thank you, all… of you. You must… save Sora before the…. before the embers… fade..."

The figure began to disintegrate into shards of light. They were carried upward with the smoke, vanishing alongside it… and then the figure was gone.

He could feel Lea and Xion's stares. Roxas flung his Keyblade to the ground in a fit of frustration and embarrassment. The blade bounced once and then winked from existence with a faint chime. Wordless, Roxas turned and stalked off toward the sheltering darkness of the trees. Neither Lea nor Xion made any move to stop him.

_'Never forget… that's the truth'._

He had thought that he had moved past that.

Once he felt that he had put sufficient distance between himself and the campsite, Roxas flopped to the ground with a muffled thump. Storming off had been childish, he knew… yet he found that, just then, he wanted nothing more than to be alone. He wanted time to think. He loved Lea and Xion dearly, but…

_'I worry about you all the time, Roxas.'_

Roxas kneaded his forehead in frustration.

The soft crackle of leaves crunching underfoot seized his attention. He gazed out into the darkness, wary, yet made no move to climb to his feet.

"Who's there?"

The footsteps drew to a halt.

"Roxas?"

_Xion. ...Of course it's Xion._

"You should get back to the campsite," said Roxas in what he thought to be a passable imitation of an offhand voice. "I'm fine. It's dark out here and you can't really see, so-"

He felt the warmth of a finger pressed upon his lips. He fell silent obediently. There was more rustling, followed by a soft thump as Xion seated herself on the ground somewhere in front of him.

"Roxas," she began quietly, her voice drifting out of the darkness, "I don't know what that was about, exactly, but… if you want to talk about it…"

Roxas made a disagreeable noise in his throat. Under different circumstances, he would have welcomed Xion's company. Just then, however…

"Xion…" he said gently, wearily, "I appreciate this, and I'm sorry that I made you worry, but right now… I just want to be alone. I'm not… depressed or anything like that; I just need some time to think about some things. I thought I had gotten over-"

"It hurts, doesn't it?" said Xion softly.

Roxas faltered.

"… It? What're you…?"

"Guilt," said Xion gently.

_That's not fair._

"… How did you know?" asked Roxas in a defeated voice. "I didn't really say anything that…"

"Intuition," replied Xion teasingly. "But… I guess you could say that I just… figured it out. With everything that Sora… thing was telling us, and then the way you reacted… it wasn't that hard to piece everything together. But Roxas… please listen to what I'm about to tell you, okay? And promise me… that you won't forget it."

Roxas made a noncommittal noise in his throat.

"Roxas. Promise me."

"…I promise," said Roxas dully.

"Good. Then... I guess the best way to put this is that I was able to identify with a lot of what that Sora thing was telling us. I felt the same things for a long, long time. I was cold, lonely, afraid, homesick... I wanted out… I wanted things to go back to the way they were… whatever the cost. But now that we have some idea of what that cost was… how do you think I feel?"

Something within the pit of Roxas' stomach twisted uncomfortably; he hadn't considered that aspect of the situation. He felt a stab of shame.

"My point…" continued Xion quietly once she had decided that Roxas wasn't going to answer, "is that you can't let that guilt consume you. Because… it will. It'll devour you. It'll rot and fester until it's the only thing in your world. Believe me, you don't want that. I don't want that. I've felt that pain, dwelt in that darkness… please believe me Roxas, you don't want that."

_'I worry about you all the time, Roxas.'_

Roxas reached up into the darkness and felt around until he found the warmth of Xion's cheek; he brushed his thumb tenderly across the smoothness of her skin, smiling to himself.

"You're… an amazing person, Xion. You know that? You've always been impressive to me, in a lot of ways… but you've grown. You've become strong. Unbelievably strong. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you or how lucky I feel that you… that we…"

"Part of that strength is your own," replied Xion gently. "I never would've found my way out of that darkness if you hadn't been there to guide me. You will never… never understand how grateful I am to you, or how precious you are to me."

Silence settled between them. There was a soft rustle of movement, and then Roxas felt Xion's lips pressed against his own. He kissed her back, tenderly. He felt his face grow warm when her kisses began to wander to his neck.

"Xi… wait, we… Axel…" he protested feebly.

"Axel won't be bothering us," breathed Xion in reply.

It was much later when the two of them decided to return to the campsite. When they emerged from the trees, hand in hand, they found that two tents had been erected around the dwindling fire. One was already closed; Roxas thought that he could just make out Lea's snores from the other side of the canvas. The other sat open and vacant; Roxas and Xion's packs had been placed to either side of the entrance.

"What kind of situation is this?" asked Xion dryly.

"Not… not a bad one," replied Roxas sheepishly. He glanced at Xion out of the corner of his eye while he scratched his cheek with his free hand. Xion sighed in mock resignation.

"Well… looks like we don't have a choice. This is entirely Axel's fault for hogging the other tent all to himself."

"It is," agreed Roxas, grinning faintly.

Once the flap had been zipped shut behind them, a lone ember drifted purposefully away from the fading bonfire. It floated about the campsite serenely, curiously. Had any been present to witness such a thing, they would have sworn that they had seen Sora appear ever so briefly; his eyes, still heterochromatic, marked him for what he was... yet he was whole. His flesh had been knit, his wounds mended… and he wore a smile that put the fire to shame with its warmth.

And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the figure vanished, disintegrating into shards of light that winked out of existence with nary a whisper.

The first ember had been rekindled.

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	24. Royal Decree

Royal Decree

The Land of Dragons

Day 18

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

_What happened here?_

Xion dismissed their Corridor of Darkness with an inattentive flick of her wrist; it flashed once and then collapsed inward with a faint groan. Having allowed themselves a day of much-needed sleep at the Tower to recover from their expedition into the Jungle, Roxas, Lea, and Xion had chosen the Land of Dragons as the next destination in their search for Sora. They had expected to arrive amidst a stately promenade of soaring columns and meticulously-tended gardens, yet this... The plaza in which they had arrived was a smoldering devastation of splintered wood and jagged rubble. Ruined pillars stretched upward toward the overcast sky, clawing at unseen stars.

"... Heartless?" asked Xion quietly. Roxas grunted his agreement with her assessment, but Lea, arms folded, shook his head.

"Have either of you ever known heartless to wreck a place like this? It's not in their nature. This damage... this is gonna sound weird, but the way some of this stuff has been cut, it looks like it might've been done with a key-"

"Is that a person?" asked Roxas suddenly. He pointed toward a distant speck that was darting uncertainly from pillar to pillar. It seemed to be making its way toward the crumbling palace that loomed over the far side of the plaza. Given the degree of damage, Xion couldn't even begin to imagine how it was still standing, but there could be no doubt; the figure had cleared the debris field and was now sprinting headlong toward the crumbling steps that clung to the front of the structure.

"Now what could he be running from?" mused Lea aloud. "We're the only ones here, last I looked."

As if in answer to his question, the broken tile that lapped at the fleeing figure's heels began to bubble and froth. Tendrils of inky darkness began to ooze out of cracks and crevices, slowly at first, and then more rapidly as the substance spread outward in pursuit. Heartless, as numerous as they were varied, began to clamber out of the growing pools in hordes.

The plaza, empty only moments before, was suddenly awash in a sea of beady eyes.

"Always with the icky jobs," began Lea, but the figure suddenly stumbled to a halt and turned.

"What's he doing?" asked Xion suspiciously.

"Dunno, be we have to save-" Roxas began, but at that moment the figure clenched both hands to its chest and cried aloud in a high-pitched voice that thrust knives into Roxas' ears.

_That's a kid!_

**"Pride! _Protect me!_"**

The tail of heartless ground to a halt; inky heads swiveled to and fro, sniffing at the air uncertainly. Roxas' bewilderment at such odd behavior turned to panic as one of the largest heartless closest to the figure - a heavily-armored centaur waving about what appeared to be some sort of halberd - suddenly broke free of the group and charged. The figure screamed, and then the scene disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Roxas thought that there must have been some sort of explosion, but if so... had there been no sound? He was unable to hear anything, he realized suddenly; his ears were ringing painfully. As the light faded and his vision returned, the question of what earlier horror had befallen the plaza was answered.

The heartless were no more. In their place stood a tall, thin figure clothed in what appeared to be robes wrought of spun gold. A nest of untidy brown hair stirred faintly in the wind as the figure turned to face them, a curious expression forming upon its face. Roxas blinked, and suddenly the figure was standing no more than a meter away; the smaller, child-like figure was nowhere to be seen.

Roxas' gaze roamed over glittering bangles and trinkets that dangled from wrist and throat and ear. The figure's face and form were identical to Sora's own save for two striking features: streaks of white ran through its nest of dull brown hair, giving it a jagged, striated appearance; the other thing was its eyes. Much in the manner of its sibling that they had encountered in the Jungle, the figure's heterochromatic irises gleamed amber and blue. A crown was perched at a haphazard angle atop the figure's head. It was small and looked to be fairly new; it bore neither device nor ornament, but had been wrought in the shape of the Kingdom Crown that sat on the end of his and Xion's Keyblades.

The figure noticed his stares.

"Let me guess what you're thinking right now…" it drawled in a lazy voice that sounded eerily similar to Sora's own. "This magnificent vision of power and majesty must be a piece of Sora's heart… oh, but which one? Envy doesn't seem to fit, and anger, well… I must confess, I do have a bit of a problem with my temper, but no… Fear, certainly not, and while we're at it, let's go ahead and eliminate Light as well. I no longer sense the presence of one of my brothers, so loneliness is accounted for… I suppose that just leaves…"

The figure smirked as it sketched a mocking bow.

"Pride."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, yet the plaza was utterly silent. Roxas stared at Pride's exposed neck in bewilderment, unsure of which question he wanted to ask first. Close to his right, Xion inhaled as though to say something. Roxas glanced over at her in curiosity, but she seemed to reconsider and merely shook her head when she noticed his gaze. Lea, standing to the far side of Xion, folded his arms in obvious impatience.

Upon realizing that his introduction wasn't going to receive a response, Pride sighed in resignation and straightened to his full height.

"… And so," he continued airily, "I welcome you to my kingdom, such as it is. I must apologize for the state of things," he added, turning his back to them and staring out at the smoldering devastation of the grand plaza. "This world is my garden, yet I find myself woefully bereft of gardeners to tend the weeds. Thus it falls to me, but I am rather heavy-handed, as you can see."

"Is that what you call it?" snorted Lea. "I think the weeds would agree. You didn't have to wreck half the plaza just to handle a few Heartless, y'know."

"Well..." drawled Pride in response, "you're probably right, but I had a good reason. You saw it running for the palace." He waved a hand dismissively and turned his back on the plaza. "But that's not something that I wish to discuss at the moment. For now, I'm _much_ more interested in who exactly the three of you claim to be, and what business you have in my world."

Seeing his chance, Roxas awkwardly cleared his throat and said, "We... well, it's a long story, but if you know what you are-" One of Pride's eyes twitched in annoyance as his gaze slid slowly and deliberately to Roxas. "And... see, Sora... we don't know where he is - he might be and trouble and we-"

"And why, exactly, would I desire to help Sora?" asked Pride flatly, bringing Roxas' stuttering to a halt. "As you have _so helpfully_ pointed out, I am indeed very well aware of who and what I am. I admit, I can't claim to know where Sora might be or what effect this... disjoining might have had, but such matters are irrelevant. Your wish is that I be returned to his heart, is it not?" Pride folded his arms. "Not happening. A soft-hearted fool like my brother might be willing to make such a sacrifice, but I am not."

This declaration was followed by a heavy silence. Pride glared at the three of them. Lea and Xion glared at Pride.

"... Look," said Lea after a moment. "That's not... there are other possibilities, other ways... Dunno what those ways could be, exactly, but there's always a chance we could figure something out. And we'd have an easier time of it if you'd come with us-"

"What?!" exclaimed Roxas and Xion. Pride's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Axel, you can't," protested Xion desperately. "We can't bring this... we can't bring him back to the tower with us!"

"He'd wreck the place!" added Roxas. "And d'you really think he'd get along with Yen Sid?"

"We don't even know if he's housebroken! He's so wild and-"

"You two... are really pissing me off," growled Pride.

"That's enough, you two," said Lea wearily. "Look, I'll... I'll handle this. Just head on back to the tower for now, alright? Tell Yen Sid and the King that I'll be along shortly... and to expect a guest or two."

"Two?" replied Xion suspiciously, but Lea merely shrugged and flicked a hand dismissively, causing a Corridor of Darkness to spring into existence.

"Go on. I'll see you two in a bit."

Roxas began to protest, but Lea, smiling apologetically, grabbed a fistful of his robes and shoved him into the darkness.

* * *

*** Rvs 2.0**


	25. When the Night is Darkest

When the Night is Darkest

Location Unknown

Day 18

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

"_What's the matter? Did you never like it when she did this?" _

Knives of pain ripped through Roxas' chest when he tried to draw a breath. Not for the first time, his vision shrunk to a hazy pinprick of light in a sea of darkness. Someone was talking to him, he knew, but the voice sounded… and he was so tired… if they would just leave him alone…

He coughed, and felt something warm splatter across his cheek.

"… xas, please stay… some… help…"

He wanted to count the stars. They were so beautiful; why had he never noticed that before?

"Roxas! No, no, don't… your eyes, look… me…"

Blinking seemed to take an eternity.

When he next opened his eyes, the world was shrouded in semidarkness. The soft glow of a candle called to him from somewhere to his right, but the act of turning his head sent a paralyzing jolt of pain racing down his spine. He maintained consciousness only with great difficulty; the effort left him panting quick, shallow breaths, each of which felt like a dagger tearing into his chest.

_What happened to me?_

He racked his memories for some clue as to what had led to his present condition, but the effort was nauseating. Pulses of pain stabbed at his temples.

"Roxas?"

He instinctively tried to turn his head and immediately regretted the impulse. When he had caught his breath, he managed to croak a faint reply that was all but swallowed up by the darkness. He heard a quiet rustling from somewhere close to his left, and then Xion's face swam into view above his own.

Roxas stared.

Even by the standard of his present condition, he thought that she looked awful. Her face was swollen and puffy; half-healed cuts swept from her left ear down to the corner of her mouth; one eye was ringed with a brilliant purple bruise that shone in the candlelight. Her mouth pulled upward at the corners, but it was faint and pained, utterly unlike her normal smile. Roxas wondered idly how bad his face must have looked.

"Axel… beat us up again?" he managed after a time.

Xion offered no reply. Roxas felt his hair, slick with sweat, being smoothed away from his forehead. "Xion?" he repeated groggily.

He heard her sigh. The hand on his forehead halted.

_Something's wrong._

"Roxas…" she began uncertainly, "I'm about to tell you some things… that I'm not sure you're going to understand. I just want you to know that I don't have all the answers and I'm not sure what to… what we need to do next. You need to recover, but… after that…"

"We'll… figure something out," said Roxas awkwardly, puzzled by her uneasiness. "Always do. Where's Axel? Does he know every… everything you're about to tell me?"

"Roxas…"

"Is he… he isn't… is he alright?"

Roxas felt Xion's hand leave his forehead. The gesture made him feel strangely lonely.

"Axel's fine," she replied in a voice that surprised him with its coolness. "He's… doing his own thing for a while, as he phrased it. He seemed to think… well, I'm not really sure what he was thinking. It looked to me like he was just tired of tagging along with us, but he said that that wasn't it at all, and that he just had some things to discuss with Pride... idiot," she added vehemently.

Roxas was dumbfounded. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart that had nothing to do with his injuries. "And so he… he abandoned us?"

"… Yes."

"Then these injuries…"

"That happened right after we were separated. He stayed behind in that other world with that Sora… Pride… thing. We were attacked _inside _the corridor we used to leave. I didn't know that was even possible but… are you sure that you don't remember any of this, Roxas?"

Roxas made a quiet noise of dissent in his throat. "Noth… nothing. I remember Axel shoving me into that corridor, but after that…"

Xion was silent for a time. Roxas wanted desperately to ask more questions, but he felt an odd sense of drowsiness beginning to seep throughout his body; he was shocked about Axel's apparent desertion, certainly, but the pain made it difficult to collect his thoughts. He wondered vaguely how badly he was injured.

"Xion…" he asked faintly, "am I going… to…"

He felt the warm pressure of her hand return to his forehead.

"Silly…" she replied in an unsteady voice. "Of course not… you wouldn't… wouldn't leave me alone again, would you?"

She sniffled, and that was the last thing Roxas heard before sleep found him.

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	26. Count the Stars

Count the Stars

Hollow Bastion

Day 25

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

Night, ebon wings unfurled in starry splendor, hung crisp and clear over the deserted streets and alleys of Hollow Bastion. Somewhere, no doubt, a cat was yowling its displeasure; perhaps an owl, gaze locked upon a flicker of movement that only it could see, was ruffling its feathers in agitation. Maybe a half-drunken businessman, lost in a haze of alcohol and unaccountably missing a shoe, was currently stumbling homeward. Roxas thought that such things were likely happening outside the suffocating confines of his sick room. He had found, as the days had crept by, that he had developed a curious fascination with the mundane events taking place in the outside world. He had communicated as much to Xion, but she had merely smiled and told him that they both had more important things to be concerned with.

He was restless. Though still far from fully recovered, Roxas was at last able to move without experiencing excruciating pain. He was lucky, Xion had told him upon finding him sitting upright in his bed, to be able to move at all. From the way that she described the seriousness of his injuries, it sounded to Roxas as though he had come alarmingly close to dying. He was unsure of what exactly had taken place when they were attacked; he did recall, quite vividly, that the corridor they had been traversing had suddenly gone completely and utterly dark. After that, the pain… so much pain… no sooner had the light been snuffed out than something set upon them in the darkness, snarling and snapping and clawing. Blinded, they had been defenseless.

They had both been injured in the past, of course; bumps and bruises and sprains were an unfortunate reality when one bore a Keyblade. However, never had either of them been defeated so thoroughly. The knowledge that there was something out there against which they were powerless chilled Roxas to the core; helplessness was not a sensation that he had often felt.

He was roused from his thoughts by the familiar groan of his bedroom door swinging inward. It would be Xion, he knew, returning with food. She had taken to venturing out into the streets on a nightly basis; it was safer, she had explained, to gather whatever supplies they needed at night when fewer people were about. Roxas hardly suspected that there was anyone in Hollow Bastion who might bring them harm, but as she was doing all of the work, he had agreed to it.

_Not that I really had much say in it anyway,_ he thought bemusedly as Xion squeezed through the doorway with an armful of paper bags that were undoubtedly concealing broccoli and cabbage and a multitude of other things that Roxas detested. His stomach growled loudly in complaint. Xion pushed the door closed with her foot and glanced upward in mild surprise; she smiled when she saw that he was sitting up.

"That hungry huh?" she teased. "Guess that means you're feeling better than you were when I left." Roxas smiled sheepishly, watching in mild curiosity as she crossed the room and placed the food upon a rickety oaken table that sat beneath their solitary window. He eyed the nondescript bags suspiciously.

"I wasn't able to find much," said Xion distractedly while she moved about putting things away. "The place I've been going was out of almost everything. The owner said that he wouldn't have anything else until tomorrow morning, so I can always go back then if we feel like this isn't enough. I'd rather not, but…"

"It's fine," said Roxas reassuringly. "I'm not worried about having enough, but it… well… it might not hurt for us to stop by in the morning anyway. I don't think there's anyone in Hollow Bastion who'd-"

"Us?" said Xion sharply, cutting him off. She turned to face him and placed her hands on her hips. Roxas snorted back laughter at the way her forehead wrinkled when she tried to affect a scowl.

"Yes, us," he replied lightly. "I'm tired of being cooped up in this place. Do you know how long it's been since I've felt anything resembling fresh air?" He flexed his shoulders and rotated his arms experimentally, doing his best to ignore the flash of pain that raced up both sides of his neck. "I'm not… as bad as I was before, and lying in bed all day isn't really going to help, so going for a walk… I don't think it would be a bad idea."

Xion had listened in silence, her scowl slowly softening. Roxas thought that, were he in better condition, he would actually be able to see the deliberations taking place behind those uncertain azure eyes as they roved over his body, taking assessment of things that only they could see. At last, Xion sighed in defeat. "Fine," she breathed, relenting, "But if you start feeling bad at all… if you're unsure, if you want to-"

"Xion," said Roxas gently, interrupting her, "I'll be fine. I won't break."

Xion stared into his eyes in silence, her expression unreadable.

"Tomorrow then," she finally said, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "which means that you have to be a good boy and rest tonight. Understood?"

"Loud and clear," replied Roxas meekly. "Before that, though… what did you bring back? I'm starving."

Much later, after the food had been cleared away and preparations made for sleep, Roxas found himself beset by an odd feeling of apprehension. He said as much to Xion as she was preparing to turn off the lights, but she merely smiled at him before extinguishing the last of the candles. Roxas felt the bed mattress compress beside him a few moments later. His left side began to grow warm as Xion carefully snuggled up against him in the darkness. Their present situation was not wholly unenjoyable, he reflected as a small, warm hand wormed its way into his own, yet he felt that they had spent far more time than they could afford in hiding while he recovered. They had been unspeakably lucky to find an abandoned, yet relatively clean shelter in which to stay, but the sheer convenience of it pricked at him. He had the vague, unshakable feeling that they were coming alarmingly close to overstaying their welcome.

He considered relaying his suspicions to Xion, but the slow, deep breaths close by his ear bespoke a peaceful sleep. Roxas was faintly irritated by her unnatural ability to fall asleep so quickly and effortlessly, but he saw no reason to wake her with his troubles. Instead, he contented himself with nuzzling his head closer against her own, and that was how sleep found him.

Dawn came all too soon.

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	27. Nightsong

Nightsong

Hollow Bastion

Day 25

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

*** Foreword/Disclaimer: It's about time to earn that M rating. This chapter contains moderately suggestive content of a sexual nature.**

* * *

This was a bad idea. She had known that it was a bad idea the moment Roxas had presented it, yet she had relented out of sympathy. His complaints in regard to his unwilling confinement had been perfectly valid and understandable, and given the astonishing rate at which he had been recovering… Yet now Xion felt as though her stomach was being twisted into knots. What little sleep she had managed to snatch had been fitful at best, and now she was fully awake and wrapped tightly in her worries. The night seemed to be passing impossibly slowly.

The slow, deep rhythm of Roxas' breathing was the only sound she heard in the quiet stillness that pressed against her ears. It was comforting in its familiarity, yet Xion was faintly annoyed by Roxas' easy disregard for her concerns; her thoughts were heavy with worry to the extent that she was unable to sleep, yet Roxas lay peacefully at her side, his dreams untroubled and rest undisturbed. She wondered idly what he would say if he knew that she had lain awake for most of the night wrestling with her doubts.

_That I worry too much, probably_, she thought sullenly. She and Roxas had never quite seen eye to eye when it came to allowing a situation the proper amount of concern; it was one of few areas in which their personalities differed, and had on more than one occasion led to an argument. Xion wondered if that was the sort of thing she had to look forward to facing when dawn finally put in an appearance. The notion made her slightly queasy; she hated arguing with Roxas more than anything, but she was unable to bring herself to merely nod and smile whenever he was poised to blunder into a dangerous situation… which was becoming an increasingly regular occurrence.

Xion gradually became aware of the silence that had settled over the room. She turned her head to the side in concern and found reflected starlight gazing back at her from within groggy blue eyes half-lidded with sleep. She stared back dumbly, trying to think of a believable excuse for her wakefulness.

"… 'ion, why're you still… 'wake?" mumbled Roxas sleepily. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Not… really," said Xion carefully, trying frantically to think of what she could say that would deflect his curiosity. "I was just… thinking about things. Nothing important, just small stuff." She immediately regretted her choice of words. Groggy he might be, but Roxas was far from stupid; moreover, he knew her well enough to know that she was most likely-

"Worrying…" sighed Roxas sleepily. "Xion, you need to… is it about tomorrow?"

Xion fidgeted uncomfortably. She wanted desperately to avoid an argument, but… "Yes," she replied in a small voice, dreading the circular conversation that such a confession would undoubtedly ignite. She was faintly surprised, therefore, when Roxas merely grunted and rolled over without further comment.

Xion gazed at the thin silhouette of his back, indistinct in the murky darkness. She was unsure of what to do. Had she made Roxas angry? She didn't think so, but his response was unusual enough to give her pause. The possibility gnawed at her thoughts. Before she could act further, however, Roxas abruptly rolled back over to face her with an exaggerated sigh.

"And now I can't sleep," he admitted. Xion saw a glint of white in the darkness and knew that he was wearing the silly lopsided grin that she loved so well. "I'd feel bad if I slept while you sat up worrying by yourself, so…" Xion felt a stab of shame, "… I guess I'll stay up and worry with you. Well, that's not exactly right. I'll try to… well, you know what I mean." Xion began to protest, but Roxas shushed her and propped himself up on an elbow. She tried to protest about that as well, but her complaints wilted and faded into silence as Roxas reached over and ruffled her hair. Unaccountably flustered, Xion sputtered and tried to squirm away while swatting feebly at his hand.

"S'a matter?" teased Roxas, leaning forward to follow her. "I'm weak, right? Can't play too rough or I'll break?" Xion favored him with a glare, thankful that he couldn't see the redness of her cheeks in the darkness.

"That's enough, Roxas," she said slightly breathlessly. "Stop it. I don't want you to hurt yours-"

"Oh?" interjected Roxas. "Then why don't you stop me?"

"Because I'll hurt you, idiot," she groused as he continued his attack.

"Will not," said Roxas flatly.

"Roxas-"

"I bet you can't."

"I'm not going to try, so that's beside the point."

The struggle came to an abrupt end when Xion managed to grasp Roxas' arm with both hands and pin it firmly to the bed. They both looked down at it in surprise, seeming to realize in the same instant what had happened. Xion pulled her hands away as though she had been burned and immediately began to stutter out an apology. Roxas waited patiently until she had finished, and then launched into a grand performance of feigned pain and agony. Xion felt her ears begin to redden with embarrassment as Roxas clutched at his arm and rolled to and fro in mock torment. What kind of singularly cruel person, he cried, would abuse an injured friend so?

With great reluctance, Xion considered for the first time the possibility that her estimation of Roxas' injuries might have been too severe. The knowledge that Roxas had most likely been telling her the truth pricked at her conscience; she vividly recalled the arguments the difference of opinion had caused. She thought that she should apologize, but she suspected that Roxas would merely ruffle her hair again. She watched his antics, wondering…

When Roxas next rolled toward her, Xion reached down and forcefully buried both of her hands in his hair. Roxas blinked in surprise and looked up at her, confused and uncertain of how to react. The moment she began to ruffle his hair, however, he took advantage of her preoccupation and made a skittering grasp for her sides. She managed to twist away, but the distraction was enough for Roxas to slip away from her hands. She grunted in frustration and dove for his stomach, prompting him to scramble backward until his back was pressed against the wall.

Xion faltered when it became apparent that Roxas was breathing rather more heavily than she thought was normal. She felt a twinge of guilt as she loomed over him, but she consoled herself with the argument that he had been the one who had started it. As she crept closer, Roxas slumped against the wall and let his arms fall to his sides in defeat.

"I'm… I'm done," he breathed. "I'm still not… You win. I think this is… sorry."

Xion offered no reply. Something about the present situation, though she was unable to say precisely what that something was, reached out to her heart in a way that she found both unfamiliar and confusing… though not unpleasant. She felt an odd tightness in her chest as she stared down at Roxas' silhouette pressed against the wall, exhausted and vulnerable. Strange images sprang into her mind; half-formed fantasies coiled around her thoughts and held them prisoned.

It was a vividly tantalizing sensation. She thought that it was similar to those times that she and Roxas had kissed, but there was something else there as well. She felt as though she was drowning in a sensation that was equal parts beautiful and dangerous and alluring. It terrified her. It enthralled her.

She crept closer to Roxas, keenly aware of the sound of his breathing and the sour smell of his sweat. Roxas, seeming to sense that something was amiss, fidgeted uncomfortably. "Xion?" he asked hesitantly. "What's… what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Xion barely heard him.

As the strange sensation reminded Xion most strongly of the feelings she sometimes experienced while kissing Roxas, she decided to begin with that. Roxas offered no resistance when she leaned over him and pressed her lips to his, but she could tell from the way that he hesitated before returning the kiss that he was confused. Cradled in a warm haze, she kissed him again, more insistently. This time, Roxas' mouth readily opened beneath her own. Xion found the sensation pleasurable, but her heart still throbbed with some unfulfilled desire. She kissed Roxas again, and again, each time more insistent, each time more frustrated that some unknown need remained unsatisfied.

She was unable to say when such a thing had happened, but she was suddenly aware of Roxas' hand on the back of her neck. Chills raced down her spine when he brushed his thumb over the tender skin at the base of her head and disturbed the fine hairs that grew there. His other hand had slipped beneath her bedclothes and was resting delicately on her side. The warm pressure made her feel strange; her pulse raced in agreement. In a daze, she slipped a hand beneath the loose fabric of Roxas' bedshirt. Her fingers trailed lightly over the smooth tautness of a scar and came to rest over his heart. She despaired at how thin he had become.

Faintly surprised but not opposed until she was sure what he intended, Xion offered no resistance when Roxas' hand moved from her neck to her shoulder and gently pushed her down onto her back. When he leaned over her and kissed her neck, however, she decided that, whatever he intended, she would trust him. She found her breathing quickening as his kisses gradually trailed downward, halting at the loose collar of her top. The interruption was oddly frustrating, and when Roxas raised his eyes to her own in silent question, Xion desperately nodded her consent.

It was a strange sensation, being undressed by the person she valued more than anything else in her life. She had entertained sexual thoughts about Roxas in the past, she realized suddenly. She was less certain that she had recognized them for what they were at the time, but now… having put her recollections together with her present situation, Xion was reasonably confident that the strange sensation by which she had been beset was exactly that; she desired Roxas.

The sudden presence of cold air against her bare skin brought Xion out of her thoughts. She shivered.

"Xion…" said Roxas softly from somewhere above her. "I… only if you're sure about this… if you're not comfortable, or…if you want to wait, I understand. This is new to me too and I'm not-"

Xion silenced him with a slender finger pressed against his lips. "I…" She struggled mightily to form her thoughts into a cohesive shape. "I started this. I want this… but only if you want it too."

"I… I do," replied Roxas awkwardly. Xion allowed a small sigh of tightly-bound relief and apprehension to pass her lips.

"Then…"

* * *

***Rvs: 2.0**


	28. No Greater Warmth

No Greater Warmth

Hollow Bastion

Day 26

* * *

**Xion**

* * *

"Does it… does it hurt?"

"Yes. But that's… it's alright. Don't stop."

"Are you s-"

"You don't have to keep asking me that, Roxas. Just…"

Despite her words, Xion was unable to prevent her eyes from squeezing shut against the sudden stab of pain. It was a strange, multifaceted sensation; there was discomfort, yes, but it was cradled within a heady mixture of pleasure and satisfaction. It was one of the most enjoyable feelings that Xion had ever experienced. It was addictive.

So when Roxas suddenly pushed himself away and asked her if she had slept well, the only response that she was able to present was a blank stare. It felt as though her thoughts were skittering out of her grasp as she watched the impossibly rapid flight of darkness before the morning sunlight peeking in from the window overhead. She was fully clothed, she realized abruptly, and Roxas, leaning over her with an expression that bespoke no small amount of concern, looked absolutely lost as to the cause for her bewilderment.

"Roxas…" she muttered dazedly, "what… why am I…"

"Your face is… Xion, you're burning up," said Roxas anxiously as he pressed a hand against her forehead. "And you're… why're you out of breath? What's wrong?" Xion studied his eyes with rapidly mounting embarrassment as lucidity began to settle in; she had suspected that something was amiss, but…

"Roxas," she began in a quivering voice, "what… did we… last night…" She paused, hoping that Roxas would interrupt her question with an answer (as was his habit), but he merely continued to study her in silence, concern evident in his eyes. "… We didn't… do any… thing last night, right?"

"… Like what?" replied Roxas carefully. "Xion, are you sure you're okay?"

Unspeakably uncomfortable, Xion looked down at the outline of her legs beneath the bed sheets. She thoroughly regretted saying anything to Roxas about what she now realized had been a dream… a particularly lewd dream, to be sure, but a dream nonetheless. She lapsed into an embarrassed silence, painfully aware of the warmth that had spread throughout her cheeks and was beginning to creep down her neck.

"You're acting kind of… weird. Are you sick or something?"

Xion remained resolutely silent.

After a moment, Roxas sighed in faint exasperation. "Well," he began, "I'm not sure what you're so… what's wrong, but if you don't want to tell me…"

Xion let escape a clipped cry of surprise when Roxas reached over and began to ruffle her hair. Vividly recalling the events of her dream, Xion made a desperate retreat, scrambling backward across the bed and ultimately tumbling to the floor in a tangle of sheets and pillows. Roxas' face swam into view moments later as he peered over the edge of the bed; Xion thought that she could see traces of laughter attempting to fight their way through his frown of concern.

She threw a loose wad of sheets at his face, which he lazily dodged, and climbed awkwardly to her feet.

"Y'know," said Roxas casually, "As you were falling I got a really clear view of your-"

The second wad of sheets hit him full in the face.

Much later, after breakfast had been cleared away and fresh bandages applied, preparations were made for Roxas' first venture outside of their room since he had incurred his injuries. As she helped him to his feet, Xion got the distinct impression that beneath his outward excitement, Roxas was nervous. His movements were surprisingly smooth given how long he had lain in bed, but she could feel him trembling ever so slightly through the hand she had pressed between his shoulder blades. She rubbed his back reassuringly.

Once Roxas had convinced her through demonstration that he was able to walk on his own, albeit for a relatively short distance, Xion produced the loose blue and cream robes that he had worn when they had all stayed at the inn. It felt as though those few precious days had taken place at some impossibly distant point in the past. The memory was warm and familiar, but it brought with it a twinge of heartache; Axel had still been with them then.

Roxas pulled the robes on over his shirt and shorts with little difficulty. Xion could just see the top of his bandages if he leaned forward, thus allowing the shirt and robe to fall away from his chest, but she saw no reason to worry with rewrapping them. She helped him tie the loose sash about his waist and then stepped back to look him over with a critical eye. This was made difficult by the fact that Roxas insisted on cringing away from her gaze, covering his chest, and looking away in feigned embarrassment whenever she lapsed into thought. Only after she threatened to leave him behind and handle the shopping by herself did he sullenly submit to her inspection.

And so it was that day Roxas had been eagerly anticipating and Xion dreading passed without issue. The walk to the grocerer was bereft of excitement, a fact for which Xion was duly grateful, and the detour they had taken to the baileys for a light lunch had proved equally uneventful. Stars were beginning to wink into being in a cloud-strewn sky by the time the two of them decided to turn their feet homeward.

Xion was happier than she could recall being in a very long time; Roxas seemed to have recovered much more quickly than she had expected. Moreover, it appeared that he would suffer no lasting injuries from the ambush that had felled them. It was a hopeful prognosis, and Xion found no small amount of comfort in the knowledge that her worst fears would remain unrealized; Roxas was not once again going to be taken from her side. No greater warmth had Xion known, save perhaps in her dreams.

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	29. Light, Dark, and Flame

Light, Dark, and Flame

Hollow Bastion

Day 27

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

The evening of their departure found Roxas and Xion reclining side by side upon the precipice of a crumbling bailey that overlooked a barren field. Roxas had recalled the location easily enough from his time with Sora; it was upon this very field that they had been assailed by a small army of heartless that had been sent to destroy the town. That seemed to have been a lifetime ago; now the site was once again empty and lifeless, but the absence of townspeople made it a relatively safe place to open another Corridor of Darkness.

Xion had presented some interesting ideas as they navigated the alleys that emptied into the lower baileys; foremost was that whoever or whatever had attacked them had first blinded them in an effort to prevent retaliation. Roxas wasn't sure that he entirely agreed with Xion's subsequent assessment that such a precaution indicated a certain level of weakness. Even so, he was unable to come up with a better explanation, so he had reluctantly let the assumption stand. The solution he had proposed was that they enter the corridor bearing some source of light. Xion, agreeing, had added that it needed to be strong enough to see by, but also something that would continue burning on its own if they were forced to defend themselves.

So it was that even as the sun began to sink beyond the shimmering horizon, Roxas and Xion remained unprepared to depart.

"…We could just make a run for it," offered Roxas weakly when the silence had once again grown too heavy to bear. "Corridors tend to run in straight lines, so maybe if we just…"

"No," sighed Xion, her voice tired and irritable. "It would be nice, but… you know better than that. Even assuming that we wouldn't get turned around in the darkness, assuming that we would be faster than whatever's in there waiting for us, assuming that, if it did catch us, we could hold it off long enough to escape… that's a lot of assumptions, especially when one of us is injured."

"Then maybe the Keyblades can-"

"Tried that. As soon as everything went dark last time, generating light with my Keyblade was the first thing I tried. I don't know why, but… it didn't work. It was like motes would appear along the blade and then immediately be swallowed up by the darkness. It was… uncomfortable. And it seemed to make whatever was attacking us angrier."

Xion lapsed into a troubled silence. Roxas, unable to think of any more possible solutions for their predicament, reluctantly followed suit.

The sun had just fallen below the horizon when the Corridor sprang into existence unannounced. Roxas and Xion, startled and panicked, scrambled to their feet and backed away in a rush. Twin Keyblades winked into being with a faint chime that was wholly drowned out by the low hum being given off by the Corridor. Terrified and bewildered, Xion cast an anxious glance at Roxas before leveling her Keyblade uncertainly. Roxas followed her lead, deliberately brushing her shoulder as he did so in a silent gesture of reassurance. The two of them stared into the dimly-lit maw, waiting…

"Oh? What's this now?"

The voice, completely unexpected by either of them, seemed to drift out of the darkness hanging suspended before them. Roxas was dumbfounded; he had never heard of noise seeping out of a Corridor. He glanced at Xion and felt oddly gratified to see that her face was twisted into a similar expression of surprise. Moments later, a deep, resonant chime echoed from within the corridor; it was followed by a strangely inhuman shriek that was almost immediately silenced. Before either of them could begin to wonder at what this development could mean, the corridor suddenly bulged and erupted with light. Roxas and Xion staggered backward with cries of surprise, arms held over their eyes to block out the sudden glare.

"Aw man, why're you running? Can't roast you from the toes up if you're moving around like that."

"Axel?" was all that Roxas had time to say before a dark shape slid fluidly out of the Corridor and sank into the ground. A second shape, taller, leapt out of the light-filled maw moments later with a lunging grasp that caught naught but air. Roxas heard an irritable sigh, and then the light was extinguished. The Corridor returned to its normal size and resumed humming serenely. Deciding that it was at last safe to look, Roxas peeked over the top of his arm and saw a painfully familiar face staring back at him with an expression that bespoke nothing as much as high amusement.

"Well, that was interesting," said Lea conversationally as though nothing out of the ordinary had just transpired. "I've been looking for you two for a while, right? So I open a Corridor to this place and it suddenly-"

The rest of Lea's words were cut off by a furiously sharp slap. Roxas was unable to say exactly when she had moved, but Xion was suddenly standing inches away from Lea, hand drawing back from the impact of the hit.

Roxas looked on in stunned silence, unsure of what exactly had just happened.

"Xi- Xion," stammered Lea in surprise, "why did you just-"

The air cracked with the sound of a second slap, harder than the first. Lea stumbled backward and sat down on the rough stone with a muffled thump.

"Shut up," warned Xion in a voice that quivered with anger. "Not another word, Axel. Not. Another… what were you thinking? Do you have _any_ idea what nearly happened because of you?"

"Xion…" began Roxas in a soothing tone, "calm down, okay? I don't think Axel could've known-"

"… Let's go," said Xion stiffly. She swept past Lea with angry strides and climbed into the Corridor with nary a backward glance. Roxas and Lea stared at each other in bewilderment as an awkward silence settled over the bailey.

"She's… not happy with me," said Lea weakly.

"No…" admitted Roxas with the ghost of a grin. "No, she's not… and I don't really blame her, but… well, a lot's happened since we got separated. We can… talk about it on the way back? And you can… um… tell me why you…"

Lea allowed himself a weary sigh before climbing ponderously to his feet. "It's a long story, partner. It's not a particularly good story either, but… I owe you two an explanation, and it'll be easier if I tell all of it myself."

Roxas frowned in suspicion as Lea moved toward the Corridor.

"Who else would I hear it from?"

Lea visibly winced. "Well… let's just say that… a lot of people aren't very happy with me right now. You'll see why when we get back to the tower. Oh, and watch your step," he added almost as an afterthought. "The floor, or whatever this stuff is that passes as a floor in here, is kinda unsound in places. That thing that ambushed me in here didn't appreciate being burnt to a crisp. Made a mess on its way out."

"What was it?"

"Dunno. I thought it might've been a heartless at first; it can sink into the ground and slither around like a shadow, but… its eyes were _weird_. I only saw them for a second before it changed its mind and ran, but unless I'm _realllllly_ mistaken, they were shining amber and blue. Kinda familiar, don'tch'a think?"

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	30. Of Jesters and Fools

Of Jesters and Fools

Mysterious Tower

Day 27

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

He opened his eyes to a cavernous domed ceiling speckled with stars.

_This is where Xion..._

Roxas spun idly on the spot, looking about the chamber in curiosity and finding that it had been repaired. Silvered wall sconces winked at him from their recesses between the arched windows that encircled the room. The dizzying cascade of black and white tile that had once been the floor now hung silently overhead casting shadows that seemed to twist and writhe if Roxas gazed at them for too long.

"Magic suppression field," said Lea lightly. Roxas glanced over his shoulder and glimpsed the Corridor they had taken from Hollow Bastion sealing itself shut. "Looks like the old man's been busy."

"Is he… expecting to be attacked here?" asked Roxas curiously. He returned his gaze to the sea of tile hovering overhead, wondering idly what could make Yen Sid uncomfortable enough to erect security measures in his own tower.

"Not… attacked, exactly," explained Lea hesitantly. "But… threatened, maybe? Dunno, I don't really understand how a brain as old as that one still functions, let alone how it thinks. Let's just say that… well, you'll see. Let's head downstairs for now. Don't try to use any magic in here and those things won't bother you."

Roxas glanced down at his feet in suspicion as Lea swept past him on his way to the stairwell. "Things? What do you mean things, Axel? The tiles, or…?"

"The shadows have teeth," replied Lea as if that was explanation enough. He pulled open the familiar moon-and-star door and held it open in invitation.

"After you."

The descent to Yen Sid's chambers was wholly uneventful, though Roxas had been unable to prevent himself from keeping a wary eye to the shadows that seemed to dart along the walls behind them as they worked their way down. Lea acted as though he hadn't seen such a thing when Roxas mentioned it, and his worry grew.

The lower door to Yen Sid's chambers was the twin of its moon-and-star brother that guarded the upper end of the stairwell. The bronzed handle seemed to be glowing with a faint silvery light that cast more of the strange shadows upon the floor, ceiling, and the walls that flanked the doorway. Roxas eyed the door in suspicion as Lea casually grasped the handle and pushed the oaken monstrosity inward.

"Don't do anything stupid."

Roxas blinked and glanced over at the back of Lea's head, unsure that he had really spoken. And then the door was open.

It took several moments for Roxas to process the full absurdity of the scene that lay before him. Seated upon Yen Sid's towering throne in the center of the room was Sora, or at least someone who looked very much like Sora. Then Roxas spotted the slender crown perched carelessly upon the nest of untidy brown hair and understood. His gaze flicked to the side as a flurry of movement caught his eye and snagged upon another Sora-like figure bent in a half-crouch behind Yen Sid's thrice-cursed table. This figure bore no crown or any other device of significance, yet it seemed to be watching Roxas with no small amount of trepidation and uncertainty.

Unsure of which question he wanted to ask first, Roxas stepped dazedly into the room and made his way over to the group of people standing near the western door. Xion patted his shoulder in silent understanding once he was close enough for her to do so. King Mickey favored him with a strained smile while Yen Sid directed a sullen glare at Lea, who flinched as though he had been struck.

"I told ya, I had no choice," Lea complained. "It seemed like a smart move, and… Xion, don't look at me like that… how was I supposed to know the other kid would tag along? That part didn't come up until we were ready to leave so I really couldn't-"

"That _kid _is my subject," said Pride threateningly. "It seems that he is another ember of Sora's heart as well, so I find no issue with his presence in my tower. Nor shall you."

"_Your_ tower?" rumbled Yen Sid in a dangerous voice. "Do you have the _slightest notion_ whose throne you are attempting to usurp? If you wish to-"

"Spare us the complaints," drawled Pride in a bored voice. "I'll return your precious tower to your hands when I no longer have need of it."

"I am not-"

Roxas looked over at Xion and received a weary smile in return. They both looked at Lea, who grinned sheepishly.

"I… might've made some promises about seeing to having that world restored when all of this was over," admitted Lea awkwardly. "Might've told him that he could have free run of this place in the meantime… dunno, it was a really icky situation. He's a real pain to deal with, to be honest."

"We saw," giggled Xion. "Who's that other… person?"

"Fear," replied Lea quickly, seemingly relieved that Xion's anger toward him had dwindled. "He was that kid we saw running away from those heartless when we first arrived, remember? Seeing to his well-being was another condition for Pride lending us a hand... but man, this whole thing is turning out to be a massive pain."

"Don't take Yen Sid too seriously though," interposed King Mickey. Roxas, Xion, and Lea looked down at him in mild surprise. "He might not like Pride... they definitely don't look like they get along... nut Yen Sid has been around far too long for something as petty as personal dislike to get in the way of what needs to be done. Having Pride in the tower is of mutual benefit, and both them are fully aware of it." He glanced up at Lea. "Has Lea mentioned the main reason that Pride agreed to this arrangement?"

"Your majesty-" began Lea uncomfortably.

"That reason," said Mickey, talking over Lea, "is that Yen Sid and I are looking for a way to mend Sora's heart without killing… without destroying these embers. I know that there are lots of ways that could go wrong," he added loudly as Roxas and Xion began to protest, "but if it works, that means it'll probably work with you two as well. This way, there's no risk to you and we gain some very useful allies. Having an Ember on-hand and readily available could be extremely useful."

"But… but we can't trust him," said Roxas weakly. "Your majesty, look at him. He doesn't care about us. We're just-"

"Oh but he does," said Mickey simply. "I wondered, when we first received reports of Pride, why he seemed to be so powerful. Reports, yes," he added upon seeing their frowns of suspicion. "I see no further reason for secrecy, so…"

"Your majesty," interrupted Lea, "is this really the time to tell them about that?"

"It is. But… I suppose it can wait until tomorrow." Lea sagged with relief. "At any rate, Pride has inherited Sora's prowess with a Keyblade. That much we expected. However, he also possesses abilities that Sora could never have imagined in his wildest dreams. We can go into those in detail tomorrow; my hope is that, at the very least, it'll make it easier for you two to deal with him. Yen Sid isn't the only one whose words you should take well salted. For now…" He returned his gaze to the ongoing confrontation and allowed himself a weary sigh. "I'd best talk these two down before they wreck the tower again. Bath's open and your rooms are ready if you want to head on to bed. Let Yen-… Let me know if you need anything."

He waved a weary dismissal and waded bravely into the fray.

"You know…" said Roxas after a moment, "that was…"

"a lot," finished Xion.

"Yeah," echoed Roxas, "a lot." They both looked at Lea, who smiled weakly.

"What? Roxas? … Xion? Why're you two looking at me like that?"

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	31. Right to Rule

Right to Rule

Mysterious Tower

Day 28

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

"So you're saying that his abilities are…"

"Surprisingly rudimentary, yes."

As promised, most of the morning had been set aside to hold a discussion about Pride; if they were to work together with him, the King had explained, they would all be better off if they understood exactly the type and number of abilities that he possessed, as well as his motivations. Lea had agreed to this suggestion with a touch of reluctance; he found the King's sudden change of heart in allowing such information to be shared with Roxas and Xion oddly worrying.

Yet the King had insisted and Pride had raised no objections, so dawn found them seated about Yen Sid's solar in various states of dishevelment. Roxas, Lea noted, seemed to be having a particularly difficult time staying awake; more than once he had begun to slump over the arm of his chair, awakening only when Xion nudged his shoulder. Lea had meant to ask them for details about their stay in Hollow Bastion; Roxas has told him precious little during their walk through the Corridor other than that they had been attacked, presumably by the very same being that Lea himself had encountered during his search.

"Rudimentary isn't really the term I would use," drawled an arrogant voice from the seat to Lea's immediate right. "I prefer… efficient. Wouldn't you agree, your majesty?"

"Call it what you will," said the King wearily. "The fact remains that you are tremendously powerful."

"Why thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment. My point was that you are _too_ powerful. If you are truly a fragment of Sora's heart - and I don't doubt that you are - then you should only possess a fragment of his abilities. This... is clearly not the case, so we need to figure out why."

"That sounds like a massive headache," replied Pride at once. "What difference does it make? In the end, you still want me to sacrifice myself for that-"

"We don't," interjected Lea irritably. "And I've already told you that. The more we stud-... talk to you, the clearer it becomes that this matter is far more complicated than simply reassembling Sora's heart like a puzzle to which all of the pieces are lined up all nice and neat. Aside from this difference in power that his Majesty just mentioned, we have another reason to suspect that there's something else here that we aren't seeing."

"Another reason?" asked Xion curiously.

"... Yeah," said Lea after casting a wary glance in her direction. "You saw it when when we arrived back at the tower. It was hiding behind this very table, bent over in fear of the two strangers I had brought back with me." He favored Pride with a smirk. "Beneath all of his bluster and bravado, he actually has quite the heart, our Pride. Conniving too. He waited until our bargain had been struck before mentioning that the kid was coming with us. Didn't really give me a chance to protest and probably would've skewered me if I had tried."

"We had received numerous reports up until that time of a second Sora-like figure that seemed to follow Pride everywhere he went," added the King, "as well as several accounts of Pride exerting incredibly excessive amounts of power to protect that figure whenever Heartless would appear. We wondered at what such a thing could mean. Was the second figure a proxy battery for Pride's power? Was he a being who served as some sort of vital link to Pride's life force? Yet in the end, it turned out that Pride was simply overprotective of a being that he seems to view as something akin to family."

"And that was what prompted them to begin their research into the possibility of mending Sora's heart without destroying the two of them," said Lea. "Affection and the desire to protect are not an intrinsic part of pride, so the assumption was made, correctly I might add, that these embers possess personalities, and possibly hearts, of their own. That made the situation _much _more complicated. Destroying soulless husks is one thing; a living, sentient being with a mind of its own is kinda… well, that's not something that we want to do."

"For which we're duly grateful," sighed Pride, "though that complicates the matter of what we'll need to do about Fury. You said that he escaped into Hollow Bastion?"

"He did," Lea admitted, "but I wanted to get these two back to the tower before anything else happened. He won't go after anyone without a Keyblade, will he?"

Pride shrugged. "He wasn't in my world for very long, so I didn't have an opportunity to learn much about him. He attacked me without the slightest hesitation and refused to listen to anything I said, but… and he looked slightly different than Fear and myself. Kinda reminded me of a Heartless."

"I got that impression as well," mused Lea quietly. "Guess we should go grab him before things get out of hand. I feel kinda stupid for just leaving him there now."

* * *

Alone in his observatory, Yen Sid allowed himself a weary sigh; he had never felt the weight of years as he did now. He stepped away from his telescope, sighed once more, and turned his feet toward the staircase. He would have to inform the others so that they could begin forming a plan of action.

He paused in the doorway and cast one final glance of dismay at some distant point in the early morning sky, cold and vacant where only moments before a star had hung warm and whole.

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	32. All Crashing Down - I

All Crashing Down - I

Hollow Bastion

Day 28

* * *

**Hollow Bastion Asset 03/Dusk**

* * *

Hollow Bastion burned.

If stars yet hung in the sky, they were hidden away behind the shroud of smoke and ash that held the city in its suffocating embrace. Distant screams, barely audible above the roar of the fires, plead for salvation from the doom that had so suddenly been set upon them; as it happened, their cries fell upon attendant ears, yet those who heard gloried in the fruits of their labor, choosing only to listen with rapt attention until the voices ceased.

Such was their mission.

Dusk fiddled with a dial on his viewfinder, and the distant figures that stood triumphantly atop the cliff that overlooked the city jumped closer. His fingertip brushed across a ring that encircled the lens, and their voices began to crackle in his ear.

"… don't know what he was thinkin'. Could've gotten the bloody stone out without burnin' the whole city down."

"He was thinking, which is more than could be said for you. Do you even know what happens with a world loses its stone?"

There was a rush of static. Dusk cursed quietly and took a brief assessment of his surroundings. His position atop the northern bailey had yet to be compromised by flame or fiend, yet from time to time he was beset by the uncomfortable notion that eyes were upon him. He shrugged inwardly and squirmed forward on his stomach in a bid for a more comfortable position. The static slowly faded.

"… and he still ain't said what he wants done with this thing 'ere."

One of the figures kicked at something that seemed to be lying on the ground. The lip of the cliff face made it impossible for Dusk to see exactly what was happening, but a distinct hiss bled suddenly into his ear, angry and desperate.

"Don't like that, does it? Can't do nothin' to us though, can ya? Boss man said you wouldn't be able to break out o' these chains, an' it looks like he had it right."

"Stop antagonizing it, Ced. I'm not sure if it can think for itself or not, but when the boss is ready to-"

There was another rush of static.

"…and I don't think you'll want to be around when that happens."

Dusk lowered the viewfinder. Experience had taught him that the best opportunity to log information about a mark was when the topic of conversation had begun to drift to the mundane. A brief search through the pouch that hung from his wrist yielded a small crystal that emitted a faint silvery aura. He raised it to his mouth and began to record his findings in a voice that hovered just above a whisper.

"Hollow Bastion asset zero-three, Dusk. Immediate transfer. Current state is red, pending black. Structural damage massive. Loss of life… significant. As expected, the attack on the city was a diversion; the cornerstone is the intended target and is in immediate danger. Advise that assets zero actual, zero-one, zero-two, and zero-four are MIA. Advise immediate withdrawal of all remaining assets to Tower. Six-"

There was a sudden concussion to the air that left Dusk feeling as though every inch of his body had been thoroughly beaten. Dazed, he gradually became aware that he was no longer lying atop the bailey; upturned soil pillowed his head, offering an unobstructed view of the meteors that had begun to stream from the sky in an unending torrent. The ground shuddered beneath him.

Remarkably, he found that the memory crystal was still clutched tightly in his fist. He held it up to his eyes in groggy assessment and was pleased to find that it still shone with the same silvery light. He lowered it to his mouth and, after a moment's hesitation, brought it to his lips. The crystal chimed softly and took on a rosy-pink hue.

"Resource…" he began, and then, swallowing his fear, corrected himself. "This is… Leon. Yen Sid, if you get this… Hollow Bastion has fallen. The same group as before. They have the cornerstone and… an ember as well. Fury, most likely." He hesitated. "Tell… Tell Roxas and Xion that they're… good kids, and that it was my… it was our pleasure to look after them. They might not have known it, but... I wish we could've done more for them."

The ground shuddered once more, and Leon allowed himself a pained sigh.

"This… isn't how I imagined going out," he admitted quietly. "Thought I'd be _fighting_ someone, you know?" He watched the meteors for a moment longer, and then raised the crystal skyward.

"Give my regards to His Majesty. It's been… fun serving a king who's worthy of the title."

The crystal chimed once more and then vanished. It would, Leon knew, reappear in the Tower's observatory almost immediately. That was good; he wasn't sure how much time he would have had left over if…

An odd hum filled his ears.

_Ah… about that long, huh?_

Leon watched the sky undulate and then rip asunder. The ground began to churn beneath him as Hollow Bastion, bereft of its cornerstone, began to collapse inward.

He had the queerest sensation, just before the darkness took him, of a figure shrouded in robes of white standing over him, hand extended. He gazed upward, uncomprehending.

"Who…"

Azure eyes, as bright and clear as a cloudless sky, glittered in the firelight. Leon tried once more to speak, but the words caught in his throat when he finally recognized who it was that stood before him.

"... How..." he muttered groggily. "You're not... but the embers..."

The figure smiled sadly, and that was the last thing that Leon saw before consciousness fled.

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	33. All Crashing Down - II

All Crashing Down - II

Traverse Town

Day 29

* * *

**Leon**

* * *

"_You won't… let anything happen to us, right? You'll protect us?"_

"_Of course he will! Our Squall's really strong, ya know? Kinda grumpy, but you get used to that. I'll be here too, so don't worry. I won't let him make any unwanted advances! Plus Cloud would probably kill him…"_

_I'm sorry._

"_What? I think you're imagining things again… Cloud doesn't…"_

_Aerith, Yuffie, I'm…_

_I'm so…_

"_Ahaha, that's our innocent little Aerith for you. Can't see the…"_

"I couldn't…"

"Awaken, Squall Leonheart," urged a gentle voice. "Troubled dreams have no place beneath a star-strewn sky."

The memories slipped from his grasp, taking their warmth with them, as wakefulness crashed over him in an icy wave. Dazed, Leon found himself gazing at threads of moonlight fanning out across an oaken ceiling lost in shadow. He pushed himself into a sitting position with surprisingly little difficulty, wondering idly where he was and, more importantly, why he appeared to be unhurt. His gaze caught on a shadowy figure sitting on the floor some distance away. It was watching him.

"Who… are you?" asked Leon warily.

The figure tilted its head in response. The darkness closest to where it sat, Leon noticed suddenly, seemed to be somehow brighter than the inky blackness that concealed the rest of the room. It was almost as if the figure was shrouded in a faint silvery glow... though of course, Leon knew that such a thing was unlikely in the extreme. He wondered idly if he was still lost his dreams.

"Light," replied the figure simply.

_Light? Is this guy messing with me?_

Leon frowned in suspicion. "What kind of name is that? If you don't want to tell me who you are or why I'm here, then I'll just… just… I…"

Leon stuttered to halt. The figure, sighing audibly, had lowered its hood, and Leon found himself staring into blindingly blue eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Thick brown hair, spiky and bereft of striation, sprung forward defiantly when the cowl was removed. The figure grinned.

Leon felt lightheaded.

"… Sora?" He stared in disbelief. "But… the embers…"

"I'm flattered," said the figure with a warm laugh, "but no. Call me _Light_. _Sora's _light, if that makes things any clearer. You seem to already know a great deal about Embers, so I won't waste time with pointless explanations; just know that I am the last of my kind who will be willing to help your cause."

Leon considered this declaration in silence, unsure of how best to proceed. Yen Sid had bade them keep a careful watch for additional embers putting in a chance appearance in Hollow Bastion, but he had _not _given them any instructions as to how they were supposed to handle any they did happen to run across. He was reasonably sure that the creature sitting across from him meant no harm, but the concept of speaking to something that could have passed as Sora's twin was more than a little unnerving.

"You know about our… goal?" he offered at last, settling upon the safest of the questions that had sprung to mind.

"That I do," admitted Light apologetically. "It isn't like I was spying on you or anything, but your group seemed to take no great pains in maintaining secrecy. I've been keeping my eye on all of you for quite some time now."

"So you were spying."

"Monitoring. There's a difference."

Leon scowled and received a sly grin return.

"Whatever you want to call it," said Light dismissively, "I know what your group intends to do. It's dangerous, I don't think it'll work, and I _strongly _advise against it. I'm willing to sit down and help come up with a better plan, but that's going to have to wait until my brother has been dealt with."

"Your brother?" echoed Leon. "Another ember, you mean."

_Why do these things have to be so difficult to deal with?_

"That's what I said. He is the last of us. Once he's been brought under control, if that's even feasible at this point, then we'll be able to decide what needs to be done about Sora's heart."

"And his name?" asked Leon, though he suspected that he already knew.

"Envy," sighed Light with obvious distaste. "Quarrelsome, arrogant, reckless… not Sora's best side, in other words; I suspect that his is the unseen hand behind the attack on Hollow Bastion."

That took Leon aback. "Why would he do something like that? What would an ember… what would anyone want with a Cornerstone?"

Light smiled weakly. "Well… think about it for a minute. What purpose does a world's Cornerstone serve?"

"It provides the world with light and life," replied Leon hesitantly, unsure that he was following Light's train of thought.

"Yes," Light admitted, "but that's not its primary function. Cornerstones serve as anchors; they bind their worlds to the Realms of Light by giving them shape and form."

He stared at Leon expectantly.

_Ah._

Leon thought that he might be sick. If they had only located Envy earlier, the events that had taken place at Hollow Bastion might have been prevented.

"From that expression, it seems that you understand," said Light with a weak smile. "I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if he somehow figured out how to use a Cornerstone's energy in that way. I wish to remain in this realm as well, but this is not the way to do it. He has to be stopped."

Leon was only half-listening. "Where… where has he been all this time?" he asked listlessly. "We never had any reports from other worlds, and…"

"You never knew of my existence until I wished it," Light pointed out gently, "but I'm sure there were signs. Heartless are drawn to him for reasons I can only guess at; perhaps something about such a concentration of negative emotions… to be honest, I really don't know. I doubt we ever will."

Leon offered no reply.

"There was nothing you could have done," said Light quietly as if reading his thoughts. "As I said earlier, he is arrogant and reckless; your plan is incomplete at best, the outcome uncertain. I don't know as much about Envy as I would like, but I do know this: he would have refused. I'm certain of that. And then you would have had an enemy working deliberately against you rather than tending to his own plans."

_I know that._

Leon rubbed wearily at his eyes. "So… what do you think we should do for now?"

"For now?" replied Light. "For now, we need to locate Envy. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that this needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. I don't know where he went after stealing the Cornerstone, but any worlds with abnormally high concentrations of Heartless are prime candidates."

"I'll ask Lea," said Leon wearily. "He had a tour… I guess… of most of the local worlds while he was looking for those kids. I don't have a ship though, so I'm not sure how we-"

Light waved his hand in an oddly embarrassed manner, prompting a Corridor to materialize between them. Leon frowned at it in suspicion.

"I'm aware of the contradiction," said Light evenly. "it's just something that all of us can do. Tell me where to open the other end and we'll get going."

"Hollow- … The Mysterious… Tower. Please."

Light favored him with an understanding smile.

_Don't do that… Stop…_

Leon redirected his gaze to the rapidly-expanding Corridor.

"Then… after you."

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	34. All Crashing Down - III

All Crashing Down - III

Mysterious Tower

Day 29

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

The darkness was comforting. He had not always thought so, yet as of late, Roxas found the quiet stillness to be a welcome change from the noise and stress that seemed to surround the tower's other inhabitants. They had received news of Hollow Bastion's sudden fall hours earlier. Most had been shocked into a stunned silence, Roxas among their number, but it was Yen Sid's reaction that had bothered him the most. Even now, wrapped snugly in his bedcovers with Xion's familiar warmth pressed against his back, the words made something in his chest twist uncomfortably.

_"I've failed them. Why could I not see? Why was I not aware?"_

"We couldn't have known," had been the King's immediate reply, but Roxas doubted that the words had reached Yen Sid's heart. The anguish in his eyes had been plain to see, and he had excused himself shortly thereafter.

Roxas wondered who would be leading them going forward. The King, he supposed. He had felt from the beginning that the King was better suited to the leadership role, so perhaps…

_But this isn't the way I would've wanted to find out…_

Gnawed by his doubts, Roxas slowly fell into an uneasy sleep.

It seemed that he had only just closed his eyes when he was roughly shaken awake. A familiar voice was urging him to get up, telling him that there was news. Groggy and irritated, Roxas tugged the bedcovers up over his head and rolled away from the voice. There was a soft exhale, almost as if in resignation, and then the covers were torn from his grasp.

Annoyed but not entirely surprised, Roxas sighed and rolled onto his back, squinting up at the tall, slender silhouette hovering over him. His vision cleared, and Lea's horrified face swam into view. Roxas' irritation grew.

"What's up with you this early in the morning?" he groused. "And why do you always have to take my-"

A sudden chuckle from somewhere to his left snagged Roxas' attention. He broke off and looked round to discover that Pride was perched atop the low table that sat near the foot of the bed. he was wearing golden-hued pajamas speckled with crowns and his hair was tousled as if from sleep, but his eyes were alight with mischief as they slid slowly and deliberately to the small, sleeping figure lying at Roxas' side.

_Ah._

"You know, that sort of thing works better without clothes," offered Pride helpfully.

Much later, after the sleeping arrangements had been explained and Lea had been led away to a quiet room to regain his composure, Roxas found himself seated next to Xion in Yen Sid's solar. The room was brightly lit – of itself unusual in the extreme – and an untidy sprawl of books and scrolls trailed across the many tables that crowded against the walls. He wondered idly why Yen Sid had requested a private meeting; if there had been some manner of development with the Embers, then surely… but perhaps everyone else already knew? The thought made Roxas strangely uncomfortable.

No sooner had the door finally begun to creak open, however, then there came from somewhere far above a tremendous impact that shook untold ages of dust from the ceiling. Yen Sid, framed in the half-opened doorway with the King frozen at his back, looked upward with a frown of surprise that quickly wilted into worry.

"Everyone remain here," he said curtly. "We appear to have visitors."

With a horrible, sinking feeling of déjà vu twisting his stomach into knots, Roxas rose haltingly to his feet. Seeming to want to remain close by his side, Xion did the same. They took a tentative step toward the doorway.

And then the world fell away beneath them.

Roxas felt as though time had ground to a halt. He was aware of an inexpressible feeling of vast emptiness below his feet where before there had been unyielding stone. He turned his head and met Xion's startled gaze for the briefest of moments. Then time seemed to catch up, and he was falling.

Arched windows rushed past in blurred succession as the wind howled in his ears. Looking upward, Roxas glimpsed a solitary figure hovering far overhead. Its hands were planted upon its hips and it seemed to be searching for something. Its gaze found Roxas' own for the briefest of moments, and a quiet whisper with which he was all too familiar blossomed inside his head.

"_Don't be afraid."_

Roxas heard Xion let out a startled scream as they landed in water… yet they continued to fall. The crumbling tower far above became little more than a hazy silhouette.

"_I found the door. Come on, I'll show it to you."_

Darkness closed in upon him. He wondered idly how he was able to breathe.

"… _But you have to open it."_

There was a sudden tug somewhere in his chest as their descent began to slow. He experienced a brief, uncomfortable feeling of tumbling head over heels, and then the sense of movement vanished. His feet touched what seemed to be a solid surface, though he could see naught but darkness. Something warm brushed against his arm. The sensation felt oddly out of place in the seemingly limitless void, and then Xion's arms were wrapped tightly about his neck. She asked if he was alright.

"I am… I think," he answered hesitantly, "but… what just happened? What is this? Where are we?"

As if in answer to his question, light erupted beneath their feet. Shards of glass raced outward in an ever-growing spiral, peeling away the darkness and revealing that they were standing upon a solitary tower. Something stirred within Roxas' memories. As the whirlwind of glass continued to expand, more towers winked into view. Windows wrought of brightly-colored glass shimmered defiantly in the darkness. Roxas looked down at his feet in the same instant as Xion and felt something catch in his throat.

They were standing upon an impossibly intricate mosaic that seemed to depict a slumbering Sora. He was reclining upon a white throne chased with gold, and a crown had been set atop his head. Riku and Kairi were shown as well; both seemed to be kneeling before Sora, heads bowed in scene was encircled by six hearts, hollow and wrought of silver. One of the hearts glowed brightly.

There came a soft click from somewhere behind, causing Roxas and Xion to spin around in surprise.

A door, pink with a rounded, flowery frame stood before them. It seemed to be emitting its own light, bathing their faces in a soft, silvery glow.

"_Don't be afraid."_

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	35. All Crashing Down - IV

All Crashing Down - IV

Mysterious Tower

Day 29

* * *

**Light**

* * *

"They've gone, then?"

Light, his arms folded, turned from the window and directed his attention to the doorway; a familiar shape, tall and slender, had appeared in the frame. Emerald eyes glittered angrily at him in the lamplight, but Light knew that no further reprimand was forthcoming. He considered the glare impassively.

"… They have," he replied simply. "What about the others?"

Almost reluctantly, it seemed to Light, Lea stepped into the room and quietly pulled the door shut behind his back. "Yeah… Yeah, Pride and Fear are gone as well. For whatever the reason, Fear disappeared first. I thought Pride was going to kill us all."

Light smiled thinly and turned back to the window. "Yeah… he's like that," he admitted quietly. He heard Lea's muffled footsteps approaching from behind. There was a brief scraping of wood on stone followed by a quiet "oof" as he dropped into an armchair. Light continued to gaze at the sea of stars strewn across the sky. Nebulas spun serenely in the distance.

"What do you see out there?" asked Lea after several minutes had passed in silence.

"Life," replied Light quietly. "Worlds that are going to be swallowed up by the darkness if those two fail."

_Please wait just a bit longer..._

Behind him, Lea let out a weary sigh. "To be the manifestation of all the good in Sora, you can be a real downer, you know that? Also kinda poetic if you put your mind to it."

Light smiled. "So I've been told. In either case, our part in this is over." He turned from the window and surveyed the darkened observatory. Broken tile littered the floor; most of the windows and lamps had been destroyed in the scuffle and a thin haze of dust and debris still hung in the air. A lone lamp flickered defiantly in the semidarkness.

"I like what you've done with the place," quipped Lea when he noticed Light's gaze gliding over the destruction, "but I think the old man disagrees."

"Judging from the way he shouted 'again!' when he finally made it up here, I'm inclined to agree," said Light evenly. "Though I admit, I had no intention of taking things this far. Those… tile… things came at me the moment I stepped out of the corridor and I just…" He waved a hand dismissively. "What was he doing when you left him?"

"He was tending to Riku and Kairi," replied Lea. "They don't really look like they've got any injuries, but being trapped inside Sora's heart like that for so long… neither one of them was originally a part of Sora, so no one really knows what kind of effect it's had on them. They were both still unconscious when I left. Leon said that he thought Merlin might know something; he left for Traverse Town just a few minutes ago."

Light grimaced. He had hoped that the sudden reintroduction of Roxas and Xion to Sora's heart, along with Pride and Fear, would elicit some sort of reaction. It _had _caused a reaction in that Riku and Kairi had been forcibly ejected, yet Sora remained asleep. Worse, Envy was nowhere to be found.

_Where are you?_

"Not really as smooth as we had hoped, huh?" mused Lea as though he had read Light's thoughts. "I gotta admit, when you first found us and presented this plan, I was skeptical. Really skeptical. Like, I almost roasted you on the spot skeptical."

"I recall," said Light dryly, recalling with some amount of ire the confrontation that had taken place only hours before Roxas and Xion had been plucked from Hollow Bastion. His visit to the tower had been brief in the extreme, and he had decided, upon coming face to face with Pride and Fear, that his presence would be of more use elsewhere. He had briefly visited Traverse Town to consult with Merlin – an ill-advised notion in hindsight - before returning to Hollow Bastion.

He had arrived, however, to a world consumed by flame.

"But the way things have been going…" continued Lea, pulling Light from his reverie, "I guess at some point it just hit home that this really was the only way. Yen Sid and His Majesty had finally agreed to tell them," he added, "but you showed up earlier than we expected."

"Wasn't by choice," grumbled Light, frowning. "I wanted my presence in Traverse Town, however brief, to remain a secret in case something went wrong."

He tapped his fingers on the windowsill in agitation.

"So..._ did_ something go wrong?" prompted Lea after a time.

"Not... really," admitted Light, "but I still don't know where Envy is. He's the key to all of this."

Lea shook his head. "This whole situation is a mess. Never would've believed it if I hadn't been here to see it. I'm glad that it's almost over with, but…those two are probably so confused right now… and scared. I know I would be."

Light shrugged self-consciously. "They'll figure it out. Sora's heart was broken into six fragments, and six fragments are needed to make it whole. Envy clearly isn't prepared to cooperate and I doubt we could force him to do so if he's managed to tap into even the smallest node of that cornerstone he wrested from Hollow Bastion."

The lie came smoothly.

"So… I'm not sure how things are going to play out from here, but Sora made whole, even if only for a brief time, might be our only means of stopping this before things get out of hand."

"So you're using them."

"You're not wrong," admitted Light, taking great care with his choice of words, "but this is only temporary; those two are standing in for Envy and myself. Once Envy has been dealt with, I too will return to Sora's heart. That's how it has to be. I thought it kinder that the two of them remain together in the meantime." He directed a meaningful scowl at Lea over his shoulder. "The only alternative was to separate them. I shouldn't have to tell you why I would be reluctant to do such a thing."

Lea returned the scowl in kind, clearly unsatisfied.

"You said that, yeah, but how do we know those two will really be released in the end? For all you know, something could-"

"They'll be released," said Light wearily, talking over Lea, "because they don't belong there. Unlike the rest of us, those two possess hearts of their own. They aren't fragments. They're the real deal. There's no way that they could ever exist peacefully within Sora's heart, regardless of how powerful it may be."

"So what you're doing right now-"

"Is a risk. I know that," said Light irritably. "I know… I do." He scratched his scalp uncomfortably. "But it's a necessary risk. Sora should wake at any moment. I'm not sure how he'll act with… with the situation being what it is, but he'll still be Sora. He'll understand what we need to do. He'll help us.

He has to."

_And then..._

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	36. The Final Ember

The Final Ember

The Shores of Yesterday

Day 30

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

"So… should we open it?"

The question had been perfunctory, and Roxas was unsurprised when Xion responded with little more than a disinterested grunt. She had turned her back to him and was peering down at the mosaic of Sora. Roxas followed her gaze and noticed with a jolt that both Riku and Kairi had vanished from the scene; arched windows of variegated glass now flanked the throne upon which Sora slumbered. Even as he looked on, the windows pulsed with a sudden light that bled over into the hearts that encircled the throne; five now burned with a silvery light, but the sixth remained vacant and dark. From behind him came the distinct _click _of a latch.

Roxas turned to find the door unchanged. There was another _click, _this one louder and more insistent. He turned back to ask Xion if she had heard the noise as well, but his gaze found only darkness. The question died on his lips. He was alone.

From behind him came a third click; in the sudden silence, it sound like nothing so much as a gunshot. The sound stabbed at his ears, harsh, angry. Panicking and not knowing what else to do, Roxas spun and wrenched the door open with all of his might.

The world disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Startled and dazed, Roxas staggered backward with his hands over his face. He was dimly surprised to hear something small and fragile snap beneath his foot. As the light began to fade, an odd rushing sound came to his attention; he thought that it sounded like the wind, or perhaps the ocean.

Feeling that it was at last safe to do so, Roxas lowered his hands.

A vast beach stretched out before him beneath a brilliant sunset. Some ways ahead, a glittering ocean roared and frothed, casting impossibly tall waves to crash against the shore. Though it was quite a ways off, Roxas thought that he was just able to make out a solitary tower rising from the ocean. It was leaning heavily and the structure that sat atop it seemed similarly lopsided.

It was only upon shifting his weight and feeling another _crunch _underfoot that Roxas directed his gaze downward. It took several moments for him to be sure of what he was seeing; part of him, he supposed, was frightened. Another part, a part that he desperately wanted to rationalize and dismiss, was heartbroken.

Even though it had been snapped cleanly in two, there was no mistaking the sea-salt ice cream stick for anything but what it was. A few shimmering globules still clung to faded lettering that had once read 'Winner.'

Roxas forced himself to look elsewhere. Something sharp and painful had begun to coil itself about his heart; it was a constrictive, confusing sensation that left him with a heavy sense of dread that he wasn't quite able to clearly define. His gaze snagged on a solitary figure sitting on the seashore; if asked, he would have sworn with absolute confidence that such a thing had not been there only moments before, but there was no mistaking it; a small, slender shape was seated just above the water line. It appeared to be wearing voluminous robes with the hood thrown back. Silhouetted as the figure was against the sunset, Roxas was unable to say what color the robes actually were.

Though he was afraid that he knew.

Woodenly, Roxas started toward the shoreline. He noticed a second discarded ice cream stick as he was walking, and then a third, and then the sand was littered with splinters and sea-blue droplets half-melted by the sun. 'Winner' flashed up at him from all directions. The sticks quickly gave way to Thalassa shells that crunched and shattered underfoot as Roxas drew up beside the figure. He stood silently for a time, looking out at the sea. Now that he was closer, he was able to clearly discern the tower he had spotted earlier.

It was, he knew, the clock tower from Twilight Town, or a poor imitation of the same. Half of its crown had crumbled and fallen into the sea, leaving it with the misshapen silhouette he had seen upon his arrival. Saying nothing, Roxas lowered himself to the ground beside the figure. His gaze remained fixated on the tower as he silently accepted a fresh bar of sea-salt ice cream. He peeled away the wrapper and took a tentative lick, unsure of how he was supposed to act.

"… It's good," he said after a time.

"I know," replied Xion sadly. "It always was."

Roxas nodded awkwardly.

"… So," he ventured when he was able to stand the silence no longer, "what is… what is all this? I don't understand what's…"

He trailed off uncertainly. He could feel Xion's gaze on the side of his face; the sensation was oddly incisive. It left him feeling exposed and vulnerable.

It was a feeling that he had never before associated with Xion.

"Well…" began Xion upon realizing that he had nothing further to add, "this isn't really something that I can explain quickly or easily. I think I know what you're most worried about, though. Roxas, look at me."

Surprised at how soft and tender her voice had become, Roxas steeled himself and finally, awkwardly, hesitantly, turned to face Xion.

He was unable to say what he had expected, but the eyes that found his own were the exact shade of blue that he remembered; her skin was as pale, her hair as black, and the way she smiled at him – a smile of sharing and confidence – was unmistakably the Xion he remembered.

In whose company had he spent the past several weeks? Who had fearfully, hesitantly tried to mend their severed friendship? Who had gotten sick at the inn and… and who had tended to him when he was injured? Who…

"I am me," said Xion simply, gently. "The person who's been at your side since you woke up… has also been me. And that's because…"

Seeming to think better of what she was about to say, Xion exhaled and turned back to the ocean. Roxas watched her for a time, his thoughts scattered and hazy. He was trying desperately to make sense of his current situation, but the pieces refused to fit together in a way that he was able to recognize and understand. Frustration gnawed at him.

"That's because," breathed Xion, seeming to have decided to continue, "… I wanted to be with you. I wanted to have a friend who I could trust and rely upon. I wanted someone who I could confide in, and who could confide in me. That goes for Axel too. I wanted to have more fun with the two of you. I wanted a friendship that was real, and warm. I wanted memories. I wanted life. I wanted… so much. I wanted to earnestly, sincerely apologize for what I've done to you. I wanted to face you, even if it was just one more time, so that I could clearly tell you how much I cared for you. I wanted to thank you. I wanted to…

"But Roxas… I couldn't. I wanted what I couldn't have. It made me angry. It saddened me. It frustrated me. It tore at my thoughts, and before I knew it, it was tearing at my heart… and then it began to tear at Sora's heart. It was too much, and Sora's heart was shattered."

Xion turned away from the ocean. She looked down at her legs and picked at her robes uncertainly.

"And that's because…" she said for a third time upon taking a deep, fortifying breath, "Sora's heart was comprised of many things… but envy was not one of them. Sora was often jealous, yes, but envy is… it's different. It's colder; meaner; lonelier. Such a thing had no place in a heart so full of light and warmth.

"Perhaps this is my punishment. I know I've earned it. To spend an eternity trapped inside a world of my own making, an alcove carved out within Sora's heart, a world built out of tarnished memories and unfulfilled dreams… this is what envy is worth in the end, Roxas. Envy granted me the ability to set you free, but the price was Sora's heart."

Roxas thought that he might be sick. He had known for quite some time that Xion was the root cause of Sora's crisis; she had admitted as much herself on more than one occasion. But this… Roxas found himself second-guessing the time he had spent with Xion; had her behavior not been slightly peculiar? Had she not been overly earnest about seemingly inconsequential matters? Had she not worried too much, scolded too much?

Had Xion ever been unapologetically selfish?

He recalled with horror that fate that had befallen Hollow Bastion.

"Xion," he said hurriedly, stumbling over the words, "is it- so you mean you're responsible for what happened to Hollow Bastion?"

Xion blinked and looked up at him in mild confusion. "Hollow Bastion? Why would you think that? I was here and my puppet was with you, remember?"

"… Oh."

Xion looked at him with reproachful eyes. "That aside, do you… really think I would do something like that, Roxas?"

"W-well," replied Roxas haltingly, "not really, but… but we thought it had to be an ember that we hadn't dealt with at that point, so-"

"Which would leave the final ember, whoever or whatever he is," finished Xion. "But, since you're here… I'd say that means he's already at the tower. You were tossed back into Sora's heart because all of the remaining Embers were gathered in one place, after all. You're not a fragment, so you don't belong here… which means that he probably forced you to take his place."

"But you're not a fragment either," protested Roxas. The feeling of dread coiled about his heart drew tighter. "I mean… you're Xion, right? Not Sora, so…" Xion was looking at him with sad eyes. "When this is over and this other Ember has been dealt with, you'll be free, right?"

Xion smiled sadly, but offered no reply.

Panic gripped him. "But there has to be-"

"Roxas…" said Xion quietly, soothingly, "it's alright. I've earned this."

"It's not fair."

"It is."

"Not to me."

Momentarily taken aback, Xion smiled and mussed Roxas' hair as he had mussed her own so, so many times. He was struggling mightily to keep his panic from spilling over into tears. "Xion-"

"Well, then I guess we'll have to figure out a way to fix this, won't we?" said Xion brightly. Roxas blinked. Xion smiled.

"But you just said-"

"I know. But we don't know how things are going to play out from here 'til the end, right? Sora should wake soon, and who knows what'll happen to this place when he does?

For now… well, let's just say that this position is probably preferable to the one that stray Ember's about to find himself in. I'm not sure how much Sora will know or remember when he wakes, but if he realizes what's happened… couldn't ask for anything more than front row seats, right? And if he chooses not to act, well... I have a few tricks of my own that I've been dying to try out. Despite all that I've said, Envy... Envy does have its perks. Just don't think poorly of me after you've seen it."

* * *

*** Rvs: 2.0**


	37. Dreamers Awake - I

Dreamers Awake - I

Mysterious Tower

Day 30

* * *

**Light**

* * *

He had always been frightened of the darkness. It concealed all manner of unsavory things that, he was certain, would like nothing better than to devour his light. He had always been frightened of the darkness, but this… this was something altogether different. Light had never known that darkness could feel so menacing; even as he stumbled blindly through the darkened tower, he thought that he could feel unseen teeth snapping at his heels. It was beyond terrifying.

How had things gone so horribly wrong? His vision had been one wrought of simplicity and efficiency; Sora would awaken, confused and weak. Light would rush to his side the moment he materialized, eager to answer his questions and ease him back into the realms of light.

And then, with the power that he had siphoned from Hollow Bastion's Cornerstone, he would in turn absorb Sora. No longer would his presence be hazy and impermanent. No longer would he be relegated to a seldom-used tract of Sora's mind, an overlooked corner of his heart that was treated with indifference and neglect.

Only… Sora's grand entrance had not been at all what Light had expected.

"I- I'm sorry!" Light shouted as he ran. He stumbled over some unseen piece of debris in the darkness and very nearly lost his footing. He slammed into a door and staggered through it, clumsily shouldering it shut and thrusting his back against it. "I didn't… I didn't want this, I-"

"Oh?"

Light choked on his own saliva and stumbled to his knees. He flipped over and scrambled away from the door in horror as a thin black mass slowly phased through it. Amber eyes shone like twin beacons in the darkness, pinning him to the floor. Light considered making a last desperate stand, but he was sure that anything he could do would have little to no effect on the horror that now stood before him, Cornerstone or no.

Sora, bereft of his light, was both greater and more terrible than anything Light could have ever envisioned in his darkest dreams.

* * *

**Lea**

* * *

"So, uh… how long is he gonna be like this?"

It was more of an accusation than a question, and Lea immediately regretted how it must have sounded. He glanced at Sora out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was still staring down at the writhing, shrieking Light in consternation. His arms were folded and his brow was wrinkled in thought, or perhaps annoyance. His eyes were precisely the same shade of blue as Roxas'. Lea found that more than a little unsettling.

"Dunno," Sora exhaled heavily. "You said that he started… this shaking and stuff around the time I woke up, right?" Lea nodded that it was so. "Then that has to be why. Just don't know what we can really do about it. I- … hang on, those two…" he trailed off into silence, clearly distracted by something that he alone could hear. Lea watched with trepidation.

"Sorry," grunted Sora after a moment's silence. "Those two won't give me a moment's peace. I couldn't hear them before, but… I don't know what they've done. Anyway, Xion's claiming responsibility for… this." He gestured vaguely at Light. "She said something about suddenly having access to his thoughts and… I don't know. I didn't really understand much of it, but I think she's trying to say that something really weird happened to this guy's connection to my heart when I woke up, which allowed her to mess with his mind in some way?

… Xion is terrifying," he concluded with a tone that seemed to bespeak both admiration and a certain amount of apprehension.

Lea felt compelled to agree. He wondered what, exactly, Xion had done to Light, as well as how she had been able to do it. He was still uncertain in his belief that Light was indeed responsible for the disaster at Hollow Bastion, but if those two claimed that it was so…

"And Roxas says that this guy's probably responsible for a lot of pretty terrible stuff," continued Sora sourly. "Guess I should apologize if he really is a part of me. I don't think I've ever had any interest in destroying an entire world for my own benefit. But, well, assuming- … please shut up." Lea had thought that Sora's behavior had been extremely out-of-character from the moment he had awoken, and the swift, irritable kick he now delivered to Light's ribs only served to further stretch his credulity. This version of Sora reminded Lea very strongly of Roxas, or perhaps Roxas when he was in a particularly foul mood.

"Can't even have a conversation," muttered Sora as Light's screams died away. His convulsions had lessened, though he still twitched at odd intervals. Sora thrust his hands into his pockets as he considered the scene. "Guess I gotta take him back though, huh? Can't let him run around unchecked… and as weird as this is gonna sound, I feel incomplete without him. You might not have noticed, but I'm not really myself right now. It's such a weird feeling too; I feel this insane amount of guilt, but also anger, loneliness… and frustration. And I don't know where any of it's coming from."

Well, I think we all know who that is.

"What was this guy even planning, anyway?" continued Sora with an irritable huff. "What did he think would happen when I woke up? Xion says that he most likely absorbed whatever power he could from that Cornerstone, but it doesn't seem to have really done him much good. Of course," he added offhandedly, "that could just be Xion trying to smooth things over for when we do manage to get set the two of them free. We're going to have a nice, long talk about everything that's happened while I was asleep. Don't think she's particularly thrilled by the idea.

And where's the old man?" he added sourly. "Riku and Kairi… should be fine with His Majesty, right? He would be of more use up here helping us figure out what we need to do."

As if on cue, Yen Sid appeared in the doorway carrying a small leather bag; various tools and devices that Lea could only wonder at peeked out of the top where he had apparently forgotten to close it all the way. Silver spindles and what looked suspiciously like a needle glittered in the brightly-lit chamber. Yen Sid cast a wary glance in Sora's direction before proceeding to kneel before Light.

"Hey old man, can we keep this version of Sora?" asked Lea lightly as Yen Sid began to rummage through his bag. "The original gets embarrassed a lot easier, but this one speaks his mind without giving it a second thought. Reminds me of Roxas when he's in a bad mood."

"I'm standing right here, you know," said Sora dryly.

"No… no, this inconstant, unstable version of Sora is not to my liking," muttered Yen Sid distractedly. "You shall have Roxas back soon enough, so you will have to be content with that. In all likelihood, Sora is acting that way because Roxas is the strongest presence in his mind at present. I have little doubt that he will return to normal when all of this has been resolved."

"So we'll have to… what, knock him out again?" asked Lea. Sora flinched. "Moving people in and out of his heart while he's awake seems kinda… that'd be a bad idea."

"That would be a very bad idea," opined Sora emphatically. "Almost as bad as attempting to knock me out."

"… We will free both Roxas and Xion from their prison," said Yen Sid reassuringly after a moment's silence. He produced an odd-looking instrument that looked like nothing so much as a silvery scalpel. The edge glinted a cold blue when he held it up to a lamp. "I promise. Hold Light still, if you please. Let us see if light that has been drained once can yet be drained again… and thereafter returned to its proper vessel."

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**

**AN (8/11/2015)**: I'll be cleaning up a few of the previous chapters before posting the conclusion, and this is the first. Reading back through this story, I've stumbled across a lot of small inconsistencies, and many more instances where tone wasn't communicated exactly how I intended. No key events will be altered, but characters will be brought more in line with my original vision. Minor format changes and a consistent day count are being implemented as well to make it easier to keep track of the where, when, and who. Cleaned chapters will be marked with the Revision 2.0 tag. More to come!


	38. Dreamers Awake - II

Dreamers Awake – II

The Puppet's Dream

Mysterious Tower

Day 30

* * *

-**Xion-**

* * *

"You're a bad person," Roxas told her reproachfully.

"When the situation calls for it," said Xion dryly. She could just see Roxas' lopsided grin in her peripheral vision; in the air before her hung a hazy image of a darkened, derelict tower. Her brow wrinkled in concentration as she silently bid her phantom Sora pursue Light down a crumbling stairwell.

"This is kind of fun, actually," she added, almost to herself. Roxas scowled.

"Well," he said carefully, "shouldn't we be focusing on finding Hollow Bastion's Cornerstone? It sounds like Yen Sid thinks they can-"

"Hm? Oh, Leon has it," said Xion distractedly. The scene before her wavered, and she was suddenly striding down a tight, close alley lit by streamers of moonlight. A dark, dull, heavy sphere swathed in a blanket woven of some type of monstrously scratchy fabric was nestled securely in her arms. Leon glanced over his shoulder, and Xion glimpsed Merlin trailing some distance behind.

"Did he really just leave this lying around?" asked Leon evenly. "Considering all of the trouble he went through to get it, that seems…"

"Oho, but he didn't just leave it lying around," replied Merlin cheerily. He gestured airily with his wand, conjuring a small sphere of light to bob along overhead and light their way. Rain-slicked cobblestone shimmered in the harsh silvery light. "He left it _in my care, _which was an even sillier thing to do."

"He did… what?" said Leon flatly as though he was certain that he had misheard.

"Well now, you have to understand that he had visited me many times before that night," explained Merlin. "I admit, I foolishly believed that he was truthful in all that he told me. A young fragment of Sora's heart, equally naïve, equally pure… you can see where one would believe such an act. Be that as it may, he entrusted the stone to me the night that Hollow Bastion fell… which, I believe, means that his final visit took place around the time that you awoke to found yourself in a certain inn?"

"Yeah," grunted Leon. "That part makes sense now. I thought it was kind of strange that he would flee to such an oddly specific place."

"Strange indeed," agreed Merlin. "I did not recognize the Cornerstone for what it was until the two of you had already departed. I had never before encountered such a thing, and was immediately fascinated. I worked many spells upon it to divine its nature. As luck would have it, I reached my conclusion only moments prior to your arrival; that is why you found my belongings in such a state of disarray.

"Ah, but this looks like a suitable spot," he added brightly while looking about at the dead end they had wandered into. Leon glanced upward and Xion saw a canvas awning that did a reasonable job of shutting out the moonlight. Merlin glanced over his shoulder as if to be certain that they had not been followed – Leon did the same – and then flicked his wand upward at a perfectly mundane stretch of wall covered with lichen. There was a deep _thrum _to that air that resonated in Leon's chest, and then the wall began to stretch and spread itself apart. A gap appeared in the stone; a brightly lit chamber was visible beyond.

"Xion, that's... really weird," said Roxas abruptly, unceremoniously pulling Xion's concentration from Leon's mind. Mildly disoriented and surprised to find herself standing upon a sunlit beach, it took Xion several moments to recall where she was. She squinted her eyes against the blinding whiteness of the sand.

"I'm sure it's… actually really, really cool," added Roxas in a tone that was probably meant to be scolding, "but you probably shouldn't do stuff like that just because you can. When all of this is over you might not be able to, and… well, it's just… weird. I'd feel really uncomfortable if you did that with me... Wait, _have _you done that to me?"

Xion briefly considered teasing him, but settled upon sighing obediently and sitting down in the sand.

"… That's good," said Roxas awkwardly as he lowered himself down to sit beside her. "That's… good. You know it'd be really bad if doing that kind of thing somehow got you stuck in here. And you still haven't answered me, you know..."

Xion smiled, but offered no reply.

* * *

**-Sora-**

* * *

"I know... what this looks like," said Sora dryly. Yen Sid was kneeling over Light's motionless body, scalpel-like tool held aloft, while Lea stood to the side holding a small leather bag that bristled with similarly threatening-looking devices. Sora was holding a length of rope (as had been suggested by Lea as means of stilling Light's movements) and had just began to bind Light's legs together. All movement had halted the moment the door had creaked open to reveal Leon and Merlin, both of whom had looked utterly horrified.

"Ah… ah, I see, I see," stammered Merlin, briefly removing his hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Well then. Excellent. Sora, it is… it is _wonderful _to see you again. Although I don't remember you looking quite as…"

"We've brought the Cornerstone," interjected Leon. Merlin appeared to be thoroughly grateful for the rescue. "He left it with Merlin, believe that or not. Here." Lea and Yen Sid let out exclamations of surprise and delight as the Cornerstone's covering was removed. Cloudy, formless shapes swirled and undulated within their prison of glass. Sora raised an eyebrow.

Without warning, as though it had suddenly sensed that the cause of its distress was nearby, the Cornerstone ignited with a flash that turned Sora's vision white. There was a wordless cry of dismay and a heavy thump that made the floor tremble beneath his feet.

"Leon, let go of it!" someone cried out as a piercing trill began to assail his ears. "Get away from it! There's no-"

A sudden _crack_ made Sora jump. He thought that he heard Leon cry out in alarm, and then everything went black. For one terrifying moment, he feared that whatever reaction was taking place had somehow stripped him of his sight.

_Sora? Sora, what's happening up there? Why did everything just go dark?_

_"Not now, Xion!" _thought Sora angrily as his vision abruptly returned. He squinted his eyes against the sudden intrusion of light; every scrap of color scattered about the room seemed somehow brighter and more garish than he recalled. Someone gasped, and he turned toward the sound...

... only to find that Light had vanished.

In his place lay a figure that Sora had met only within the confines of his own heart. He looked, he supposed, similar to Roxas, though there were minute differences to be found if he looked closely enough. His clothing remained unchanged, so Sora supposed that the person lying before him was indeed Light, but the attire was the only similarity. The Cornerstone lay by his side pulsing with a dim golden light.

"I feared that this might be the case…" murmured a grave voice from somewhere behind him. Sora turned and found Yen Sid looking uncharacteristically solemn. Merlin had removed his glasses and was feverishly wiping them with a corner of his robes as though unsure of what he was seeing. Lea's face had gone ashen.

"Why is he here?" asked Sora at last. His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and continued, "I mean… that is who I think it is… right?"

"That's… Roxas, isn't it?" asked Leon uncertainly, "but something's off. He doesn't-"

"Not Roxas," said Sora uncertainly. "Not… not Roxas."

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	39. Beneath a Star-strewn Sky - I

Beneath a Star-strewn Sky - I

The Puppet's Dream

Day 30

* * *

**Ventus**

* * *

_So this is how it ends._

The sky was beautiful. He had always thought so, yet just now, in this place... the colors seemed too bright, the sun too warm. It was almost as if they lacked some minuscule, undefinable trait that made them _real, _and so they shone all the brighter to hide that failing.

Ventus would have given anything to have learned that lesson when it had still mattered.

He had been foolish.

So, so foolish.

He heard the soft rustle of sand giving way underfoot, and then two sets of azure eyes blocked his view of the star-strewn sky. There was anger there, which he supposed was justified, but he found that he had little will to resist whatever they had in mind for him.

"Sora is upset with you," said Xion quietly.

"… I know," said Ventus wearily. "He has every right to be. You all do."

"He's upset with me as well."

"Is he..." exhaled Ventus heavily after a moment's silence. "Which world did _you _destroy?"

"Not a world," said Xion evenly. "Sora's heart. You've done some really... terrible things, but you wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place if I had just…"

"Ah, so none of this is my fault after all?" said Ventus dryly.

"That's not what she said," interjected Roxas irritably. "Don't you dare try to push the blame onto Xion. You're the _embodiment of Sora's light, _aren't you? Why would you do something like this?"

_He sounds like Terra… though I guess Aqua was the one who scolded me most of the time._

If Ventus had been granted any one wish – just one – then he would have wished for things to go back to the way they used to be; for…

"_Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead."_

… But he had not that power. No one did.

Not Merlin.

Not Yen Sid.

Not Sora.

No one was capable of turning back time, nor bidding it to halt. Even with the power of a Cornerstone to call his own, it had not been enough. Desiring to absorb Sora had been an act of desperation, though he supposed that his actions had been driven, at least partially, by some amount of ill will. It was unspeakably painful to want something so badly that it monopolized his thoughts and dreams, yet Sora… Ventus knew that his thoughts could reach Sora. He knew. He was certain. Yet not once had Sora acted upon those impulses.

He had never lifted a finger in the name of searching for Aqua or Terra.

Even now, even here, in a world built upon fading memories and unfulfilled dreams, the injustice of it pricked at Ventus' heart. It made him angry.

It made him feel unspeakably lonely.

Xion and Roxas' faces had grown blurry. Ventus wiped at his eyes angrily.

"I…"

… _I what?_

"Well… I guess… we can discuss it later," exhaled Xion heavily. "Sora lost consciousness right before you appeared; I think Axel might have... well..."

_But I don't…_

As if on cue, Ventus' awareness began to fade. If he had to liken the sensation to something, he supposed that it felt similar to falling asleep; it was slow and gradual, unhurried, gentle in its embrace. Warmth began to trickle outward from somewhere deep inside his chest.

"He's not going to be happy when he wakes up." Roxas' voice was faint and muffled. Xion made some quiet reply, and both of them laughed. The sight filled Ventus with an excruciating, suffocating sense of longing.

_Aqua... Terra..._

…

No sooner had his vision faded to black than Ventus found himself standing upon a white floor in a white room. The room had no windows, but curious shapes and strange symbols that stretched from the polished floor to the cavernous ceiling overhead ran along the circular walls. A white throne sat in the center of the room, and slumbering upon it...

_That's... me?_

Disoriented and confused, Ventus wondered if he had somehow fallen into one of Sora's memories... though, as far as he was aware, he and Sora had never actually met face to face.

_Where is this?_

Ventus took a tentative step closer to the throne.

"As lazy as ever, huh?

Ventus froze.

...

"What, nothing to say after all this time? And after all the trouble I went through..."

His mind seemed hazy and disordered, his thoughts jumbled. Footsteps were approaching him from behind.

"I've been taking good care of you, you know. You should at least say thank you. You're almost as trouble asleep as you are when you're awake."

The footsteps came to a halt; Ventus could feel warm breath stirring the loose hairs on the back of his neck.

"But then... you slept most of the time anyway, so it's not really that big of a change."

Ventus felt a warm wetness pooling beneath his eyelids. His eyes burned.

...

"Still nothing, huh?" The voice sighed. "Look at me, Ven. It's alright."

Steeling himself, Ventus turned on the spot... and then he was face to face with Aqua. She looked just as he remembered, though perhaps somewhat older and more careworn. Her smile held a certain sadness, and Ventus saw a single tear winding its way down her cheek as she reached past him to touch his slumbering body.

_She doesn't know I'm here. So I'm in a memory after all... but whose?_

The realization hurt more deeply than Ventus could put into words.

"Sleep, Ven," breathed Aqua soothingly as she ran a strand of his hair between her outstretched fingers. "Sleep, and dream. Dream of brighter days, of light and laughter. Wrap yourself in those memories. Aren't they warm? Sleep soundly, and fear no nightmares, for I'll stand watch until you wake. Troubled dreams have no place beneath a star-strewn sky."

* * *

**Rvs: 2.0**


	40. Beneath a Star-Strewn Sky - II - End

Beneath a Star-strewn Sky (II) – End

The Sho[]es of Yes/rday

D y 3[0]

* * *

**Roxas**

* * *

"I can't come with you."

Roxas could feel every word tearing at his heart, but he offered no reply. What could he say? Were he to be honest, he had nursed the suspicion for a very long time that something was amiss. The Xion who he had known during his time in the Organization and the Xion in whose company he had spent the past several weeks were two very different people. There were similarities, yes, and yet …. It was a difficult feeling to put into words. At times, her behavior had almost seemed_ too_ cheerful, her words too bright, her smile too warm.

Now, however, Roxas understood.

Here, at the end of things, he finally understood… everything.

Everything.

Xion had been desperate. Faced with a fate that she had not the power to escape, she had instead chosen… what? Solace? Gratification?

Happiness?

If Roxas had known, when the two of them had first been reunited, that their time together would be limited, would he have acted differently? Perhaps that was why Xion had been so distraught when he had dismissed the urgency of having his memories restored. And… perhaps that was why…

_How could I have been so blind?_

"… I see," replied Roxas woodenly. "So this… is goodbye, then."

The words hurt more deeply than he knew how to express, yet Roxas felt that they needed to be said all the same. Already he could feel a chilly, tingling numbness creeping up his spine; soon, he knew, the dream would end. Soon, he would be dragged back into the realms of light whether he willed it or no, and Xion…

_How did things end up this way?_

Xion was watching him silently, a thin, sad smile dimpling her cheeks. Her eyes were no longer the vivid blue that he remembered; be it due to some unknown mechanism that she no longer had the means to deny, or perhaps simply because she wished it to be so, both had faded to the dull, lusterless amber borne by the other fragments of Sora's heart.

"It is," Xion agreed quietly. "I expected this from the beginning, but…"

"… but that doesn't make it any easier," finished Roxas. Xion lowered her gaze.

"Isn't… isn't there anything we can do?" asked Roxas weakly after several moments had passed in silence. "Sora… we can… something has to…"

"No," sighed Xion heavily. "This is… it has to be this way. I don't want to say that any more than you want to hear it, but…"

For a moment, Roxas was at a loss for words. Things that he barely understood were happening more quickly than he could keep up with; it was frustrating, terrifying, and most of all…

_I don't want to lose Xion again._

He fought to keep the panic out of his words as he repeated his question. Perhaps Xion had merely misunderstood; she was undoubtedly confused as well, and in her place…

"So there's not…" repeated Roxas, "anything… at all that we can do? There's no… we can't just leave or, or maybe the King can help us, or-"

"Stop," repeated Xion heavily. Roxas stuttered to halt feeling as though he had been slapped. Something deep in the pit of his stomach twisted sickeningly. "Please, just... Roxas, this… we can't do this. Not now. Not here. I have some things I want to tell you before I… so just listen… don't make this any harder-"

_Not now… not here…_

"What do you mean we can't- then where?!" Roxas shouted over her. Xion flinched. "When?!"

_Why am I yelling at her? Not Xion, I can't-_

"_No secrets, right?" chimed a voice from deep within Roxas' memories. "You're weird, Roxas. Why would friends keep secrets?"_

"Of course now!" shouted Roxas. "Of course here! I don't have any idea what's-… do you know how this-… why won't you look at me?!"

"_Of course I'll always look at you. What kind of question is that? Even if this face is tired or dirty… as long as it's still smiling, everything's okay, right?"_

"Why won't you talk to me?! I don't understand what's happening at all and you expect me to just accept whatever outcome you've… you've…"

Xion was trembling, he realized suddenly. His anger slowly, reluctantly began to fade, leaving a hot, prickly feeling of shame in its wake.

"I'm sorry."

Xion said nothing, but continued to gaze at the sand swirling about her feet.

Unsure of what else to do, Roxas took a tentative step forward… only to come into contact with a solid, unyielding wall of force that hummed quietly in warning. He took a hasty step backward, startled and confused. Xion looked up at the sound, and for the briefest of moments her gaze met Roxas' own.

The pain he saw there seemed likely to rip his heart into tatters.

"… It has to be this way," explained Xion quietly as her gaze returned to the sand. "And you're right to be angry with me, Roxas. You're absolutely right. There's so much that I didn't… that I couldn't tell you, but I had my reasons. I still do." She stepped forward so that less than a foot remained between the two of them and slowly brought her gaze up to meet Roxas' own.

"There was nothing… nothing I could have said that would have made this any easier. I've known from the beginning that things would likely end this way. What was I supposed to tell you? That everything would work out? That I thought, given enough time, that I might be able to devise a way to free myself from these chains? …Roxas, if you hear nothing else, please hear this, and remember it. Remember, and don't repeat my mistakes: these chains were not forged by Sora, but by my own failings. I am the one to blame for my current situation. Not Sora. Not anyone else. Me. I wanted something _so badly _that I…"

"Xion-" began Roxas quietly, but she shook her head stubbornly and talked over him.

"I destroyed Sora's heart, Roxas. I destroyed it with my envy. I _am_ Envy. Don't you get it? I shouldn't exist. We're only able to have this conversation right now because of a very, very specific set of circumstances, one of which is that Sora's heart remains fragmented. I don't want that, and I know that you don't want that. Sora certainly doesn't want that. It's…" She faltered. "It's… time to grow up. We have to think about someone other than ourselves. I have to-… I have to think about Sora. And Riku. And Kairi. Don't you think I'm scared of what's about to happen? Roxas, I'm… I'm terrified. _I don't want to… _to…"

And then the sand was rushing up to meet him. The last thing that he saw before the darkness found him was Xion's tear-streaked face, the word 'disappear' dying upon her lips.

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself gazing upward at a star-strewn sky shot with swirls of pink and gold. Strange; he was certain that he had been seated in Yen Sid's chambers only moments before. It was a very uncomfortable sensation, though one with which Roxas not entirely unfamiliar. Rather, this was becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence; having become one with Sora, whether the latter had wished it or no, Roxas spent the maj/rity of his waking hours as an ever-present audience to Sora's actions. It was an odd feeling to share a body with another consciousness, especially when Roxas' own control of that body was essentially nonexistent. Over time, he had discovered that he could force thoughts and impulses upon Sora, though he had no say in whether Sora acted upon those feelings.

Recently, however, Roxas had b[][]un experiencing lapses in his awareness. It always began as a sensation that he could only liken to drowning in darkness; the edges of his vision would begin to grow dim, his hearing would become muffled, and he would suddenly find himself in a different place. Sora, as far as Roxas was aware, had never noticed these epi odes.

_I wonder what happened this time._

Sighing, Roxas pushed himself into a sitting position. The Clock Tower that loomed overhead chimed mournfully.

The tail of the coat from his time in the Organization pooled on the ground around his legs and he felt the familiar weight of the hood resting just below his neck. The rip just above the right knee from his brief skirmish with Riku was present as well. Roxas reached up and pull ha/ful of stiff blonde hair down in front []f his eyes.

_I'm back in my own body._

But what did this turn of events portend for Sora? Was he alright? Had he been injured or even killed, thus freeing Roxas from his heart? And then there was the other presence that had [][][]lt in Sora's heart; if Roxas had somehow b n returned to his physical form, then it stood to reason tha/ Ventus had been set free as well.

He had the queerest sensation that he was forgetting something terribly important.

However, a brief search of his thoughts yielded no answers. Sighing, Roxas pushed himself to his feet and sh[]ok out his coat. He briefly con/dered making his way to his friends' old hangout to see if they were there – he wanted desperately to see the three of them again – but decided against it when he realized that, this being the real Twilight Town, they were unlik/ly to recognize him. Bese y an odd pang of lo liness and loss, R/as entered Central Station alone. He was of a mind to visit the Myste us Tower, the home of a tremendously powerful (and t[]emendously ancient) sorcerer by the name of [][][] [][][]. If /yone was likely to hold t[]e answ rs that he s[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] / …...

* * *

_This is how it has to be. You and I - separate, yet one. I apologize for using you, Roxas. This is my world – my dream. Envy is a terrible, terrible poison. I can wish; I can dream... yet I cannot have. And so I have to settle for an imitation – an unending cycle of awakenings, reunions… of pleased to meet you's, downpours, nightsongs and stars – this is my feeble imitation of the things that I am no longer allowed to touch. I am as much a prisoner as jailer, trapped in a cycle of my own making._

_Please don't hate me._

_Please don't forget me._

_Perhaps one day, this loop will be broken. Perhaps one day, when I am unchained, when the ties that bind me to this place have been severed, we will be able to meet once again._

_Perhaps one day, we'll be able to enjoy sea-salt ice cream together; that was my favorite time – a time when the world was warm and bright and whole, and all of our worries seemed insignificant as we talked and laughed and dreamed beneath a star-strewn sky._

* * *

*** AN - And that's a wrap. An epilogue is forthcoming, and there will be a part two to this story... at some point. I now know better than to give out dates, hahah. Thank you so, so much for reading. The support I've received has been tremendous. So, one last time...**

**More to come!**


	41. Epilogue (updated)

Epilogue: The Bargain

Mysterious Tower

Cycle 07: Day 01

* * *

**Yen Sid**

* * *

"Enter."

Yen Sid set the letter aside and turned his attention to the door. He rested his chin atop steepled fingers and peered across the darkened solar expectantly. As it happened, he had been expecting this visit for quite some time.

Of course, with the way things currently stood, time was a somewhat relative concept.

After a brief moment of silence, the door swung inward and a robed figure stepped into the solar. Azure eyes considered Yen Sid impassively as the figure eased the door shut with a foot. It said nothing.

"… As charming as always," observed Yen Sid, sighing. "You need not glare at me so; I know who you are – yes, I remember; don't give me that look – and what it is that you wish to tell me. Or," he added as the figure scowled, "should I say 'demand?'"

"I didn't come here to demand anything," grumbled Xion sourly. "I wanted to ask you for a favor."

Yen Sid smiled knowingly. "I imagine so… and quite the favor it is. You understand that I will want something in return, of course?"

Xion folded her arms impatiently. "That doesn't sound like a favor to me… but fine."

"So quick to agree," Yen Sid said teasingly. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're running out of time."

"Roxas could be here at any moment."

"… So he could," sighed Yen Sid, relenting. "Very well. My price…"

Xion visibly tensed.

"… is that you try, to the best of your ability, to discover a means to halt this cycle before it reaches its conclusion. As of late you have been content to allow things to play out as they will. I needn't remind you that such a thing is dangerous in the extreme."

"… I know," muttered Xion guiltily. She averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "But… it's hard. This is not… not a good situation. I know that. I do. But even so…"

"But even so," said Yen Sid patiently, "this cannot continue. How many cycles have there been since the day Sora's heart was shattered? Five? Six? You have asked for time and I have given it; you have begged for leniency while you searched for a solution, and I have been as accommodating as circumstances have allowed. My own research into this matter has yet to yield even the smallest of leads. This situation will only be resolved by your efforts and your initiative."

The faint rhythm of distant footsteps diverted his attention. Xion looked round at the door in a panic.

"Roxas, he's-"

"I know, I know," said Yen Sid in a calming tone. "So before he arrives… you are certain of this? If you simply told him everything-"

"I can't! What if he-"

"You can't?" asked Yen Sid, "or you won't? As I have already told you, I'm willing to maintain my silence on this matter, but if you aren't going to try-"

Once, twice, thrice came a sharp rap upon the door.

"Yen Sid?" asked a muffled voice from the other side, "are you there? It's Roxas. We… have some things we need to talk about."

Yen Sid glanced at Xion and received a glare of warning.

"… So we do. Enter, Roxas. There is someone here who I would like you to meet."

* * *

*** AN (9/11/2016):** It's been... a while. Adulting is hard and I'm fairly lacking in experience. That being said, I'm now at a point in my life where not only do I have the time to sit down and write, but I feel motivated enough to do so. That motivation tapered off toward the end of part one of this story, and for that I apologize. It won't happen again. While I can't promise daily updates, I will absolutely be active. My waning interest led me into some poorly-planned plot points as part one began to wind down, so my first priority is tidying those up. To that end, I will be removing the prologue chapters for part two. My vision for the next part of the story has drastically changed since I last published anything, so those chapters in their current state would be very out of place. If you liked the whole "the sky doesn't look too good" shtick... don't worry. That's all I'll say for now.

With that out of the way... expect the first chapter of part two to be published later this evening. If you're reading this, thank you so much for sticking around. It means the world to me.

I haven't had the chance to say this in a while, so.

More to come.  
\- Shade


	42. Black and White - Part I

Black and White - Part I

* * *

Xion

Cycle 08 – Day 01

* * *

_It's so... warm._

When Xion opened her eyes, she found herself gazing skyward at a brilliant cloud-strewn sunset. The stars were just beginning to come out.

"... I did it," she mumbled to herself. Thinking about the magnitude of what she had just accomplished made her head spin, and she allowed a quiet sigh of relief to escape her lips as she dazedly reflected on the final moments that she had spent trapped within Sora's heart. It had been a close thing, to be certain; even at the very end, as her sanctuary had crumbled and the sand given way beneath her feet, she had considered abandoning her plan and instead allowing the cycle to repeat itself as she had done so many times before. In the end, the thought of further betraying the trust that had been placed in her had led Xion to attempt something that she would have never considered had the situation been less dire. It had been out of character. It had been cruel. In its own way, it had been selfish, however benevolent her intent.

Yet she had been left with little choice. Yen Sid's admonition that her inaction would accomplish nothing was true, however reluctant Xion might have been to admit such a thing.

And yet it was only when Sora's heart had shuddered in revulsion that Xion realized that she had possibly inflicted a wound far more grievous than she had intended. By then, of course, it had been too late. She was falling upwards, tumbling headlong toward a distant pinpoint of light; it had grown, and grown, and then darkness had enfolded her thoughts like a blanket. The warm glow of sunset on her cheeks had been her cue to awaken, and she once again found herself lying on the sun-warmed brick of the Twilight Station plaza.

Guilt gnawed at her thoughts. Was Sora alright? Obviously not, but... he would recover, right? He had to. He was Sora, after all. He couldn't... well, it was probably best not to think about that kind of thing. Xion hesitantly set her regrets aside and pushed herself into a sitting position. The brick was warm beneath her gloved fingers. She turned her head side to side, stretched her shoulders, arched her back, wiggled her toes... it felt indescribably good to be back in her own body – her real body. While she had never shared as much with Roxas, Xion had noticed that time seemed to stretch and bend very oddly within her fabricated prison, and the final hour or so of each cycle – the period that had always begun with Roxas and herself being pulled back into Sora's heart – had in actuality seemed impossibly long.

In truth, the waiting had been mind-numbingly boring. The first time it had happened, Xion hadn't the slightest idea where she had been taken, and it seemed as though weeks had passed in solitude and silence upon her sunlit beach before Roxas made his appearance. She smiled at the memory; perhaps one day she would find the courage to tell Roxas about everything that-

"Oh, you're awake."

Xion looked around in surprise. She had thought that she was alone in the plaza, yet there upon the steps sat a frail, delicate slip of a girl who Xion judged to be of an age with Roxas and herself. She was clothed in a simple linen dress that might have come to her hips, but the way that she was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest made it difficult to be sure. She seemed to be holding a diary or coloring book of some sort, yet for the moment it seemed that Xion commanded her attention.

Unsure of the girl's intentions, Xion slowly pushed herself to her feet and shook out her robes. Unblinking sky-blue eyes followed her movements with polite interest, yet the girl said nothing. Perhaps it was simply how out-of-place the girl looked sitting atop brick worn smooth by weather and years in a spotless white dress, but Xion was beset by a vague sense of unease that she couldn't quite articulate. It was similar, she thought, to the way that the air would sometimes feel heavy just before a storm blew in.

"Why do you look so scared?" asked the girl in a tone of gentle concern. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I'm not a mean person." She smiled as if the prove that it was so. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay when you woke up."

"So you've... how long have you been here?" asked Xion cautiously. The thought of someone she didn't know watching over her while she had slept did little to allay her feelings of discomfort.

"That's a good question," the girl replied. She tilted her head to the side as though she had never before stopped to consider such a thing. "You know, I'm really not sure. It's kind of weird. I just remember..." Her brow scrunched with effort. "I remember falling, but... it was like I was falling _up._ Maybe it was just a dream, but at some point, I just became... aware that I was sitting here on the steps and that you were lying on the ground in front of me." She blushed suddenly. "Oh, that makes me sound weird, doesn't it? It's not... I'm not crazy, or at least, I don't think I am," she explained hurriedly. "I just-"

"It's okay," said Xion bemusedly. She felt her own cheeks beginning to redden on the girl's behalf. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just... someone I don't know watching me while I'm asleep is kind of... that would make anyone nervous, I think." She smiled awkwardly. "But you seem like a good person, so..." The girl blushed, if possible, even more brightly and clumsily hid her face behind her sketchbook. Xion thought that she glimpsed a smile before a ream of paper covered with colorful scribbles blocked her view.

Several moments passed in silence before watery blue eyes peeked over the top of the sketchbook. "Do you mean it?" asked the girl quietly, eliciting a concerned frown from Xion.

"Of course I do," she replied. "It's not really that big of a... a, well, anyway," she stammered, averting her gaze and searching for a way to change the subject when she realized that the girl seemed to inexplicably be close to tears, "why don't we go... someplace else? Do you live around here? I'd like to hear more about your dream if you don't mind sharing it with me."

* * *

**AN: **Yup, I know that Xion and Namine have met previously. Xion's failure to recognize her in this situation is intentional on my part. That being said... I'm super excited about some of the things I have planned. Looking back, part one moved waaaaay too quickly at times, so part two will be much slower with a heavier emphasis on character development. I really hope that you guys enjoy it.

More to come!


	43. Black and White - Part II

Black and White – Part II

* * *

**Roxas**

Cycle 08 – Day 01

* * *

_Never forget. That's the truth._

Roxas' eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Hazy, half-formed thoughts sailed past in serene procession as he drifted aimlessly in the dim half-world somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. The darkness was warm and comfortable, and it was with great reluctance that Roxas bid his eyes to open. Standing over him were three familiar figures. The closest, a tall, lanky boy who wore an expression of poorly-concealed irritation, reached down and flicked Roxas' forehead.

"Hayner!" chided one of the other figures, this one a girl, "don't hit him!"

"I didn't hit him," Hayner grumbled. "I _flicked_ him. Maybe you need to get your eyes checked."

"Come on man, that wasn't nice," chimed a third voice.

"I'm just saying. All you two ever do is complain," replied Hayner sourly.

The couch groaned in protest as Roxas sat up. Still unaccountably drowsy, he rubbed at his stinging forehead in confusion.

"See?" the girl huffed. "That isn't the kind of thing you do to people who-"

"Um..." said Roxas uncertainly. "I don't... wait." He blinked a few times and squinted his eyes against the harsh glare of sunset filtering in through the curtain that had been hung across the room's solitary entrance. The three figures watched him apprehensively.

"Hayner?" he blurted suddenly, causing all three of them to jump. "Pence? Olette?"

"Oh good, he remembers us," said Hayner flatly.

Roxas rubbed at his eyes, certain that he was still entangled in a dream. He blinked once, twice, thrice, tried pinching his cheeks (though he hadn't really expected such a thing to help), and finally, still fearing that he was the victim of some monstrously cruel joke, he stood up, squared himself up to Hayner, and flicked him in the forehead with all of his might.

Hayner stumbled backward, lost his footing, and fell with a curse. Pence's eyebrows disappeared into his headband, and then he was doubled over with laughter. Olette simply smiled nervously. Hayner scrambled to his feet ungracefully and very nearly knocked Pence to the ground as he shouldered past and grabbed a fistful of Roxas' jacket. Roxas made no effort to resist.

"You..."

Olette began to say something, but Pence placed a hand on her shoulder and quietly shook his head.

"You..."

"It's Roxas."

Hayner flinched. "What?"

"My name," said Roxas pointedly. "It's Roxas. Not 'you.'"

Hayner glared for a moment longer before releasing him with a shove. Roxas stumbled and fell onto the couch with a muffled _thump. _"It's... I know that it's Roxas!" said Hayner angrily. "What kind of nerve... after you just vanish, then you just show back up without warning... you have no idea..."

"I think that what Hayner is trying to say," explained Olette gently, "is that we were all really, really worried when you disappeared." She smiled softly. "You could have at least told us, don't you think?"

"Ah... well, it wasn't like I really had a choice," began Roxas awkwardly, but Pence cut in on top of him.

"You guys give him a break. Roxas is here now, so what's the problem? If he wants to tell us what happened later, then that's fine with me. Besides," he added with a very Pence-like grin, "I don't think that he would've just left without saying anything if it could've been avoided. Right?" Roxas nodded gratefully. "See? So acting like this isn't going to help anything. Hayner..." Hayner visibly tensed. "I know that you missed Roxas the most out of all of us, but you don't have to be so-"

Pence ducked, narrowly dodging the cushion that Hayner had hurled at his face in a fit of embarrassment. Pence let fly another snarky comment, Olette voiced her agreement with a soft giggle, and for the first time in ages, Roxas felt that he was home.

Later, after the sun had fully set and the four of them were preparing to go their separate ways, Pence pulled Roxas aside. Though he had been expecting something like this, Roxas was nonetheless surprised when Pence began to tell him of a certain mansion nestled deep within the nearby forest. The place had been long abandoned by the time the three of them had been born, but Pence insisted that as of late, there had been rumors that candles had been glimpsed burning brightly in one of the mansion's upper windows. There were other rumors, as well: stories of a white table in a white room, of colorful drawings hung from white walls like tapestries, and of white curtains blowing gently in the breeze of a warm summer's night. Stories, of course, were just that, though Pence had long believed that even the most fantastic of tales concealed a nugget of truth, however small. So it was, he believed, with the mansion and its mysterious white room.

"Oh, but there was one other thing," Pence added just before Roxas could make good on his escape. "It might not be anything, but... while we were waiting for you to wake up, a group of people... you know how you can hear everything going on outside, right? Well, this group passed by on their way to the sandlots, and I heard one of them say that he had seen not one, but two people enter the mansion earlier today. Like I said, it might not be anything, but... what if? He said that they were both girls, but they were dressed kind of weird. That was all I had time to hear, so I chased him down, right? I ask this guy about it and he says that one girl was dressed all in black, and the other all in white."

* * *

**AN: **Much tsun, very wow. It's always fun to experiment with new characters. Olette might be a bit off, but there isn't really a ton of good material to work with.

More to come!


	44. Black and White - Part III

Black and White – Part III

* * *

**Roxas**

Cycle 08 – Day 01

* * *

The night had grown chilly. The wind nibbled at Roxas' cheeks with teeth of ice as he sat alone atop his accustomed perch overlooking the station plaza. A crescent moon hung high in the starry vault that arched overhead. Shooting stars would put in an appearance from time to time, distant streaks of light that vanished as quickly as they appeared. The vista was beautiful, but Roxas' thoughts were troubled. No matter how he looked at it, something about the events that had transpired earlier in the day didn't quite add up. What had he been doing prior to awakening in his friends' old hangout? More importantly, why had he left Twilight Town in the first place? Where had he gone?

His memories were hazy. Scattered images of figures arrayed in darkly-colored robes had plagued his thoughts ever since Pence had told him about the girls who had been seen entering the mansion outside of town. Hadn't he said that one of them had been clothed all in black? It wasn't really much of a lead, but once the suspicion had settled in, Roxas hadn't been able to shake the desire to investigate the mansion for himself.

His musings were interrupted by quiet footsteps making their way toward him. He briefly considered moving to hide. Was he allowed to be up here at this hour? He wasn't certain, but at the very least he would have to come up with some sort of excuse if someone found him in such a curious location by himself.

He was spared further deliberation by the appearance of a girl who looked to be close to his age. She had glistening black hair that hung just above her shoulders, startlingly blue eyes that reflected dancing starlight, and most importantly, she was clothed in a heavy black robe adorned with strange silver ornaments. Something about the way she was looking at him made Roxas strangely uncomfortable, and he stumbled over his words as he asked the girl who she was. Her shoulders seemed to slump at that, and some of the starlight fled her eyes. Rather than answering his question, she quietly sat down beside him and reached into her robes. After a moment of feeling around, she produced a bar of sea salt ice cream. She stared at it for a moment before offering it to Roxas.

"Um..." Roxas peered at the ice cream uncertainly. What was happening? Who was the girl and why wouldn't she say anything? Why was she offering him ice cream? Was it poisoned? Had he made enemies of which he had no knowledge during his mysterious absence from Twilight Town? Roxas thought that such a thing was unlikely, but the situation was curious enough to put him on his guard.

For the second time, he was spared the burden of making a decision by the sound of approaching footsteps. The robed girl, seeming to have heard them as well, huffed heavily and rose to her feet. She shoved the ice cream at Roxas in agitation and disappeared around the corner of the clock tower. Roxas scrambled to his feet and followed. He rounded the corner just in time to see a second girl, this one with longer hair the color of spun gold, stumbling to a halt. She was clothed in little more than a simple white dress that Roxas thought looked altogether too short to be comfortable on such a chilly night. She doubled over to catch her breath.

"I told you not to follow me," said the robed girl evenly. "You've done enough. More than enough." She paused, and then added in a somewhat softer tone, "... And why are you out here dressed like that? You'll just get sick."

The other girl shakily stood up straight. Even by the lackluster light of the moon and stars, Roxas could see from the redness around her eyes that she had recently been crying.

"This... this is what I was worried about," she said desperately. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. I knew that you would-" She seemed to suddenly notice Roxas. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and then her gaze snapped to the robed girl. "What have you told him? Please tell me that you haven't told him anything. You left before I could explain-"

"I haven't told him anything," the robed girl replied in a tired voice. "Thanks to you, there really isn't anything to tell."

The blonde-haired girl said nothing for a moment. Roxas thought that she looked to be on the verge of tears, but instead she took a deep, steadying breath, and said, "I know. I'm sorry for that. I really am. I know that you don't really have much a reason to believe me right now, but... I wouldn't have... you know... if I thought that there was another way to fix things."

"You call this fixed?"

"Well, no, but that's because-"

"Um..." interrupted Roxas loudly. Both girls looked at him in surprise. "Um..." he repeated, "I don't really know what's going on here, but if you two are going to argue, then maybe you could do it somewhere else? It's kind of cold out here, and..." he glanced at the blonde-haired girl's exposed legs. "Well, it's... going someplace warm would probably be better, wouldn't it?"

Almost as if to prove his point, a sudden gust of bone-chilling wind swept across the rooftop with a mournful howl. Clothed as warmly as he was, Roxas shivered. The blonde-haired girl looked to be in no small amount of distress, but the robed girl appeared unperturbed, if a bit curious. She glanced at her companion in concern, and then nodded reluctantly.

"You're right. Naminé," she said gently, "I'm sorry for storming out like that. If you want to... take this back to the mansion, I'll listen to whatever you have to say. But," she added, "Roxas has to come with us. Is that alright?"

The girl called Naminé looked at Roxas with apprehension. Though he wasn't particularly good at reading people, he had little trouble identifying the trepidation in her eyes as she reluctantly nodded her consent.

For the briefest of moments, Roxas was beset by a vague sensation of... well, it was difficult to describe, but if he had to put words to it, he supposed that "threat" would be the most appropriate. It reminded him of the way that the air seemed to grow warm and still just before a storm moved in. As Naminé turned to leave, the robed girl caught Roxas' eye. She held his gaze for scarce longer than a heartbeat before turning to follow her companion, but in that moment, Roxas was certain; she had felt it too.

* * *

**AN**: Naminé is turning out to be a surprisingly enjoyable character to write. Really looking forward to building up her relationship with Xion since their time together in the canon was minimal.

More to come!


	45. Black and White - Part IV

Black and White – Part IV

* * *

**Roxas**

Cycle 08 – Day 01

* * *

"Sorry about the mess," said Namine. She timidly stepped over a pile of broken china that had fallen just inside the doorway. Roxas followed without comment. He felt oddly nervous, though for reasons that he couldn't quite articulate. The robed girl followed closely behind him. She muttered a sheepish apology and halted to right an overturned chair.

As Pence had informed him, numerous drawings had been hung from the walls in what seemed to be no particular order or pattern. The splashes of color were jarring against the stark expanse of white. Roxas felt a tug of curiosity as his gaze fell upon a drawing that appeared to depict three identically-clothed figures standing side-by-side amid a field of grass. Before he could investigate further, the girl called Namine shyly invited him to join her at the table that occupied most of the room. Reluctantly, Roxas pulled his gaze away from the drawing. Only when he turned around did he notice that both girls were watching him intently. Namine's shy timidity was painfully obvious, but the robed girl seemed to be looking at him with something akin to... apprehension? Roxas couldn't be sure, but it almost seemed as though she was expecting him to say or do something. Her gaze never left his own as Roxas pulled a high-backed chair away from the table and lowered himself into its voluminous padding with a soft _fwump_.

Only when Namine cleared her throat did the robed girl look away. Roxas thought that she looked somehow disappointed.

"Well," began Namine awkwardly, "this is... not how I planned for things to go. It doesn't change... I mean, I'll do my best to explain things, but..." she stole a glance at the other girl and took a deep, steadying breath. "... Xion, you probably aren't going to like what I have to say. Just... please don't hate me for it, okay?"

Xion offered no immediate reply. Roxas thought that, rather than angry, she looked as though she was beginning to regret pressing her friend for answers that she was clearly reluctant to give. Her brow wrinkled with deliberation. "I won't," she said after a moment. "I don't think that you're the kind of person who would intentionally... well, like I told you earlier, I don't think that you're a bad person. So I believe your when you say that there was no other way. That being said," she added as Namine's cheeks began to redden, "I still expect you to have an extremely good reason for... everything."

Roxas was lost. He had the distinct impression that while the girl called Xion had her reasons for dragging him along, the current conversation was one that he was expected to observe in silence. His curiosity leading him to disregard this instinct entirely, Roxas interjected with a loud "everything?" that earned him a look of surprise from Namine and a faint grin from Xion that seemed to say that, while faintly annoyed, she had expected nothing less.

"Everything," repeated Xion simply. "Namine is-"

"Let... let me explain it, please," interrupted Namine. "It'll be easier that way. I still don't want to," she added with a sullen pout, "but it looks like you're going to tell him anyway. That's not nice. You said earlier that there wasn't anything to tell."

"I didn't really mean that. I was just... frustrated with the situation," replied Xion, almost sheepishly.

Namine looked very much as though she didn't buy it, but she sighed and directed her attention to Roxas nonetheless. For several moments, she said nothing, but instead folded her hands atop the table and stared down at them in silence, thinking. It seemed as though several minutes had passed before she raised her head.

"First," she began, "I want to apologize. To both of you. I've already told Xion this much, but... Roxas needs to hear it too." She took a deep breath. "I've taken something from the two of you. Something precious. There really isn't an easy way for me to explain this, but... I'm not a normal person. Roxas, you saw the drawings when you came in, right?" Roxas nodded that it was so. "Those are my drawings. They're awful, aren't they?"

"Ah, well, no," said Roxas awkwardly, "they're kinda... well... y-yeah, they are, I guess," he finished lamely. He felt heat flooding into his cheeks. Xion, whose gaze he was determinedly avoiding, let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Well, those drawings..." continued Namine bravely, "are what I use to... manipulate memories."

"Come again?" said Roxas, certain that he had misheard.

"You heard her correctly, Roxas," Xion assured him. "If it makes you feel any better, that was my reaction as well."

"I know that it doesn't make much sense," continued Namine, "but that's just... how it is. I can draw people, or places... I can't change the past, but I can make people... well..." she blushed guiltily. "I can make people forget things. Important things."

The feeling of danger that he had earlier been unable to place rose up and crashed over him all at once. Something twisted in Roxas' gut as he turned in his chair, searching for the drawing that had grabbed his attention when he had first entered the room. The same inexplicable pull seemed to drag his gaze to the three oddly-clothed figures, and Roxas quietly rose from his chair. Namine and Xion watched in silence as he removed the drawing from the wall. It came easily, and only once he was holding it in his hands did Roxas realize that there had been no tape or pin holding it in place.

Three robed figures stared up at him. They had no faces, yet Roxas had little trouble identifying the shortest figure as the girl who presently sat behind him. Xion. The figure to her left bore a mane of violently red hair that hung down to its waist. Roxas was certain that it didn't resemble anyone he knew. The figure to Xion's right, however, with its crown of spiky blonde hair that swept up and to the side was clearly meant to be...

Roxas turned around. He held the picture out to Xion dumbly, as though he wanted her to verify what he had seen. She smiled grimly, and Roxas knew that she had already seen it. Roxas thought that the mystery of her angry departure earlier in the evening suddenly seemed far less intriguing. He turned to Namine, but found that he was unable to think of the right question to ask. She smiled sympathetically.

"Something precious. I was telling the truth." She held out her hand, and Roxas obediently surrendered the drawing. He felt numb, and yet... didn't this explain the oddities surrounding his absence from Twilight Town? If he had been with Xion, then... then...

He looked at Xion with curiosity and received a grimace in return. "That's not the first time you've looked at me like that, Roxas," she said sullenly. "Nor the second, nor the third."

"Which is part of the problem," interjected Namine in an uncharacteristic tone of admonishment. "And that's why... this part, Xion, I didn't... I was going to tell you earlier, but you didn't give me the chance. This is... to be completely honest with you... with both of you..."

For the first time, she looked not nervous, but frightened. Roxas felt an odd chill creeping its way up his spine. Namine was looking at the drawing with unfocused eyes.

"... I'm not sure what this means."

When neither Roxas nor Xion offered a reply, Namine turned the drawing over and held it out to Xion so that she could see the figures.

"I asked you this before," said Namine quietly, "but just to be sure... what do you see?"

Xion frowned as though expecting some sort of trap. "Roxas, Axel, and myself. That's who those three are supposed to be, right?"

Namine said nothing, but instead held the drawing out to Roxas. He nodded his agreement.

Namine closed her eyes and returned the drawing to the position in which she had previously held it. She sat like that for several moments, and then slowly opened her eyes, studying the figures.

"I see Roxas," she said quietly, "and I see Axel. But... I don't see Xion."

She laid the drawing on the table with a trembling hand.

"I see Sora."

* * *

**AN**: Not gonna lie, I got major chills writing the last couple of lines. This is going to be a ride.

More to come!


	46. Black and White - Part V

Black and White – Part V

**Roxas**

Cycle 08 – Day 01

* * *

Roxas gazed with disinterest at the shimmering crescent moon that was just beginning to peek over the treetops, its pearly glow diffused by bubbly windowpanes covered in what appeared to be years of grime. The mansion, as it happened, had no shortage of grime; Roxas had left a trail of dusty footprints as he aimlessly wandered the balcony that ran along the perimeter of the entrance hall. His meeting with Namine and Xion had long since concluded, yet he found that he was unable to drive the words of the girl in white from his mind. Had his memories truly been altered? His recollection of recent events began and ended with waking up to find himself back in friends' old hangout, and yet...

Roxas turned away from the row of windows, his gaze settling upon the girl in black as she stood in the doorway of the tea room conversing with her companion. Had she been in on the plan? While it certainly didn't appear that way, she at least seemed to have known Roxas before his memories were taken from him. That made him feel... odd. Try as he might, Roxas was unable to recall ever seeing her before. Xion, she had called herself. Roxas thought that the name was a bit strange, but he found that he liked the sound of it all the same.

"You're mistaken," said Xion suddenly and loudly, pulling Roxas from his musings. She was looking at the girl in white with her arms folded and back rigidly straight. "I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. That isn't..." She seemed to realize that she was very nearly shouting and lowered her voice. "... This is different."

The girl called Namine smiled and said something too quietly for Roxas to hear. Certain that he was once again the topic of a conversation to which he hadn't been invited, Roxas sighed in resignation and made his way toward them. Xion, her voice considerably quieter, muttered a reply while gesturing vaguely at the tea room. Namine spared the room a cursory glance before shaking her head in disagreement. She rested one hand upon a slender hip as she spoke, and she was still speaking when Roxas drew up within earshot.

"... hadn't planned on telling Roxas anything in case it... well, in case it made things more complicated. That's why I erased the memories tied to his time with the Organization as well as... recent events." Her cheeks took on a faint pinkish tinge as she turned her attention to Roxas, seemingly completely unsurprised that he had joined them. Something about the way light seemed to vanish into her impossibly blue eyes made him feel somehow uncomfortable. "And for that... Roxas, I'm very... very sorry. I am. What I did was... it probably seems cruel, and you might hate me for it, but it was to keep you safe."

Roxas held the girl's bottomless gaze for several moments before discomfort led him to look elsewhere. He had been hoping for quite a while that the situation in which he had found himself was little more than a strange, exceedingly well-executed prank. However, as the night wore on, Roxas found the likelihood of that particular wish to be diminishing with alarming alacrity. He was tired. So tired. He was annoyed as well. Both of the gazes that he felt boring into his skull as he looked determinedly elsewhere seemed to communicate a wealth of highly personal, almost invasive knowledge that was being deliberately withheld. It was frustrating. It was also slightly embarrassing. The idea that two girls whom Roxas had never met seemed to know more about him than he himself would ever have willingly shared was...

"Do you feel helpless?" asked Namine, suddenly and quietly. Roxas looked over at her with a pained expression and received a soft smile of sympathy. "If I had thought that there was any other way... but Roxas, you need to understand what is... well, what might be happening." She hesitated, her gaze unfocused as she searched for the right words. "I can't tell you as much as I would like. Please, please believe that much if nothing else." It seemed to Roxas as though her eyes were once again staring past him, or perhaps staring _into _him; he became aware that a chill had crept into the room only when he felt an icy bead of sweat creeping downward between his shoulder blades. He could discern Xion in his peripheral vision just clearly enough to know that she was watching him, her face expressionless.

"Where to begin," muttered Namine, half to herself. "This is... well, first, I suppose... to get the worst part out of the way, if I had chosen not to erase your memories, Roxas, then... while I can't say for sure, you probably... wouldn't be standing here right now. In all likelihood, you would have disappeared."

For several moments, the balcony was utterly silent. Roxas wondered briefly if he had misheard, but given the grave expression on the girl's face, he feared that that was not the case.

"Disappeared," he repeated dimly. The word felt awkward and alien to his tongue. "What does that mean? Do you mean like I would have somehow... I don't know, died, or..."

"If Namine is right about what's happening," offered Xion in a tone of mild agitation, "and that's a big, _big_ if, then your heart, everything that makes you... well, you, would have eventually been absorbed into my own had your memories been left intact. You would no longer exist. But again," she added emphatically, "this isn't... this is just what Namine believes. I don't agree for several reasons, the most important being..."

She paused unexpectedly as if struck by a sudden thought. Roxas thought that he saw a faint glimmer of pain flash across her eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Xion shook her head, seemingly to herself, took a deep, steadying breath, and looked into Roxas' eyes with a level of determination that would have made him laugh if the situation hadn't been so bizarre. He had thought that the other girl, Namine, was the strange one, but...

"Roxas," said Xion firmly. "When I ask you this, it might be... it might seem weird, but please answer honestly. It's really, really important. Okay?"

Roxas swallowed the flippant reply that was dancing on the tip of his tongue and nodded stiffly. He didn't need to look at the girl in white to know that she was staring into his eyes with the same intensity as her companion. He was struck by the thought that no matter what Xion was about to ask him, lying would be an extremely bad idea. Xion looked as though she would have liked a more definitive reply, but she returned his nod all the same. After another moment of wordless hesitation, she asked what Roxas thought might have been the strangest question that he had ever heard.

"When you look at me, who do you see?"

Roxas said nothing for a moment, and then scowled. "That's it? Is this a joke?"

Xion returned the scowl in kind. "Not in the slightest. Answer the question, Roxas. Please."

Roxas exhaled in frustration. "I see _you_. Black hair, blue eyes, and really, _really_ pale. What kind of question is that?"

Xion offered no reply, but instead turned her attention to Namine. Roxas could tell that she was trying bravely to suppress the feeling of smug satisfaction that was twisting the corners of her mouth into a smirk, but she was failing miserably. Namine appeared faintly abashed, but set her jaw stubbornly and opened her mouth as if to argue. Before she could begin, however, there was a tinkle of breaking china from the tea room. Namine's head snapped toward the doorway in surprise, but Xion was already shouldering past her. Roxas, wondering what else the night could possibly have in store for him, followed closely.

The scene that greeted them was... well, bizarre was probably the right word for it, but Roxas felt that a stronger term would have been more apt. The room was exactly as they had left it: three chairs had been pushed away from the table when their occupants had risen; three identical sets of teacups and saucers shimmered warmly in the light of the candles that ringed the room in sconces of porcelain; white curtains fluttered gently in the breeze that was blowing in through the open windows. Yet something felt... wrong. Roxas wasn't quite able to put his finger on it, but it was the same strange feeling that he had experienced at different times throughout the night. Xion, from the look that she gave him over her shoulder, seemed to notice it as well.

Roxas felt soft, warm pressure on his back as Namine pushed him timidly, urging him from the doorway. He stepped aside with an awkward, muttered apology that was cut short as a strange, distant noise snagged his attention. He looked toward the open window in confusion, unable to place where the sound was originating.

"Those are screams," said Xion in the same instant that Roxas hit upon the realization himself.

"Screams?" echoed Namine in a tone of surprise. "But I don't..." she paused, listening. "Oh... oh, that's... those are coming from town. I wonder what's... oh no... what should we..."

"Calm down," urged Xion distractedly. "Roxas and I will go see what's going on. You can stay here where it's safe and-"

Her words were cut short by a sudden hammering from downstairs, making all of them jump.

"She's here!" cried a voice that sounded as if it came from the front garden. Roxas thought that it sounded familiar. "She's here, I see a light in the window!" There was more hammering followed by the sound of dry, dead leaves crunching beneath hurried footsteps.

"Of course she's here," yelled a second voice. "She showed up when Roxas did! She disappeared when he did too, remember? I tried to tell you that it meant something, and now that's he's back-"

"Both of you, please," plead a third voice, "now isn't the time for this! Let's- Hayner, move, let me-"

"Olette?" said Roxas loudly. He stepped awkwardly around Xion and stuck his head through the curtains. Three shocked faces stared up at him from the garden; even by the dim light of the moon filtering in through the treetops, Roxas could see that his friends were terrified. The unplaceable feeling of dread swelled.

"Roxas!" yelled Pence. "I knew you'd be here! Listen, is the girl- the girl in white, the one I told you about, is she here? We need to see-"

"Let us in, please," interrupted Olette, her tone uncharacteristically desperate. "I know that you can't see it from here because of all the trees, but-"

"Wait, wait, calm- calm down," stammered Roxas. Xion said something that Roxas couldn't quite hear and dashed away to let the three of them inside. "I don't... what's wrong? See what?"

Pence stepped up beside Olette and laid a heavy hand upon her shoulder. He whispered something into her ear and then looked up at Roxas with an expression that hovered somewhere between terror and excitement.

"Something... something is wrong with the sky."

* * *

**AN**: Apologies for the delay. University stuff. So this chapter went through many, many, many iterations before I arrived at this one. Roxas' loss of his memories wasn't done as well as it could've been in earlier chapters (I feel like I wrote him a bit too carefree / a bit too much like Sora in some places), so we're gonna do it justice this time.

More to come!

* All characters and locations are the property of Disney and Square Enix unless otherwise noted.


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